Bomber's Replacement
by Obsessive Reader22
Summary: Ranger returns from a long mission to find a mess. Will he be able to protect Steph, and her cousin Gabi? Drama, angst and lots and lots of the Merry men. :
1. Author's Note

**DISCLAIMER**:

I do not own any of the characters or locations that are included within this story, except for a few. It is based on Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum series.

As with any of my stories…I strongly suggest leaving feedback and suggestions. I like to think that I take suggestions well and would love to perfect my writing.

That's it for the disclaimer. Enjoy the story. I will try to post new chapters as soon as possible. If you are looking to read something while you wait I have other stories as well. One is complete and the other is almost done.

Thankfully yours.

Obsessive Reader22


	2. Chapter 1

It was so good to be home. The flight back was pain-stakingly long, but as soon as my feet hit Trenton soil I knew that I would be wide awake. I was going to see my Babe. I had been in the wind for over a year fulfilling my contract with an apparent suicide mission. It had started out being an easy in and out job, but ending up being over eight months in a prison in the hills of Afghanistan. I had debriefed in Qatar so that when I reached the states I would be free to go home.

Tank had left a car, as per my instructions that I had e-mailed him yesterday from the base. He had immediately responded with a request to meet with him before I planned on going anywhere, but there was no way that I was going to see his mug before hers.

The windows off her apartment were all dark when I pulled up to her apartment, except for a faint glow from what seemed like a night light in her living room. I parked, running into the building, stopping for only a moment to run my fingers along the word "PLUM" printed on the mail slot before taking the stairs two at a time. There was no way that I was going to be able to stand still in the elevator. Taking out my lock pick, I stood almost nervous in front of her door. I hadn't been able to call into Rangeman the entire time I was gone, and didn't know what I was going to be walking into. I pushed aside my anxieties and quickly picked the lock, disengaged the chain and stepped into the dark apartment.

Her old sofa, chair and television sat in the same spot, but there were new prints on the walls adding color to her once dreary apartment. Her entry way had a small set of hooks containing several keys, and a black hooded sweatshirt. I smiled, noticing that it displayed the Rangeman logo. The kitchen, bathroom and hall were pretty much the same, only small differences in artwork and some new appliances that graced the once bare countertops. I smiled when I noticed her cookie jar sitting proudly against the backsplash, and chuckled to myself when I wondered if she still kept her gun in it.

Making her way towards her closed bedroom door, I stopped taking a deep breath. I had been waiting for his moment for so long that my heart was pounding uncomfortably in my chest. I could hear her breathing softly and the buzz of her ceiling fan that hung above her bed. Taking a deep breath, I slowly opened the door making sure not to make a sound. I smiled as I saw her sprawled out in her bed face down, her blankets snaking in a twisted mass around her.

Her hair was darker now, and looked as if she had been straitening it. It lay in a mess around her covering her beautiful face. Taking a step closer I noticed that she was wearing a pair of pink heart boxers and a matching tank top that had ridden up barely covering her breasts. My pants felt a little snugger as my gaze took in her sleeping. I almost gasped when I noticed the ink. She had gotten multiple tattoos since I had left. A vine of flowers wound its way up her calf, around her thigh and disappeared under the boxers. I shifted myself in my pants when my thoughts flew to how far up it went. A dark wispy pattern spread across the small of her back settling into a small pink heart, and there was a small butterfly floating delicately on her shoulder.

I took a step forward, my legs almost touching the bed.

"Babe..." I said softly. My lips curling into an appreciative smile. She stirred slightly, before quickly reaching under her pillow and whipping a .38 and pointing it in my direction. I almost had to shake my head when I saw that this was not my Babe.

"Who the fuck are you?" An unfamiliar voice hissed, her eyes darting from me to the corner of the room back to me. "Why the fuck are you in my apartment?"

"Your apartment?" I exclaimed, my voice loud compared to her soft threatening tone.

"Yea!" She barked back. "I sure as hell know that you don't live here."

"Who the hell are you?" I asked. "Where's Stephanie?"

"Stephanie?" She asked, lowering the weapon only a little before aiming it back at me. "She doesn't live here anymore and I don't take well to people breaking into my place. If you want Stephanie go check at HER house!"

"What house?" I asked, taking a step forward. "All her shit is here. Her name is still on the mail box. Her sweatshirt is at the door. And you never answered me…who the fuck are you?"

"Seriously, you have issues." She said, reaching into the bedside table and clicking something. "You come into my apartment in the middle of the night, wake me up when I have to work tomorrow, and scare the shit out of me. I am the one holding the gun, and yet you still ask ME who the fuck I am. Who the fuck are YOU?"

I stood there motionless, confused as all hell. What the fuck was going on? I reached down to grab my phone when she jumped up and jammed the gun into my face.

"Hands where I can see them, asshole." She yelled. I raised my hands, and rolled my eyes. This was completely FUBAR.

"Gorgeous?" A familiar voice bellowed from the other room. What the fuck is he doing here?

"In here Les." The woman said, smirking slightly. "Now you're in trouble. My boys are here."

"What the fuck is going on?" Les' voice echoed as he walked back towards her bedroom. "What's the 9-1..."He stopped talking as he saw me standing in the bedroom. "Fuck me." He said, holstering his gun and reaching out his hand to shake mine. "How's it going, cuz."The woman's face was twisted in shock, and this time I smirked as I took his hand and he pulled me into a hug.

"Les?" She yelled exasperated. "What the fuck is going on!" She had lowered her gun and was now standing at the edge of the bed.

"Goregous, this is Ranger." Les smiled. "You might not want to shoot him, he signs your paychecks."

"What?" She and I both said together. Les just smiled and shrugged his shoulders. We looked at each other for a moment before I reached out my hand.

"Carlos Manoso." I said as she took my hand and shook it.

"Gabriella Plum." She sounded as though she was being scolded by teacher. I raised my eyebrows and looked from Les to Gabriella. "Sorry."

"Sorry for the intrusion." I said, taking a step towards the door. "I guess that I will see you at work." I turned and stormed out of the apartment with Les scrambling at my heels.

"Ranger." He called after me. I stopped as I reached the stairwell.

"What the fuck is going on Les?" I growled. "Where's Stephanie? Who the fuck is that?"

"Shit." Les kicked at the ground uncomfortably. "You didn't talk to Tank yet, did you?" I stared at him, conveying that the answer should be obvious. "Fuck man. I don't want to be the one to tell you this…but Stephanie got married shortly after you left. She moved and gave her apartment to her cousin Gabi."

"To who?" I asked trying to kick start my heart again.

"The cop."

"Fuck!" I slammed my fist into the wall, leaving a large hole in its stead. "I'm going home. Tell Tank to meet me in the gym at 0400."

"Yeah." Les called after me as I headed down the steps. My heart was heavy in my chest and it was hard to breath. I lost her. She was gone and there was nothing that I could do. My throat was tight as I slammed my car into gear and squealed out of the parking lot and towards Haywood.


	3. Chapter 2

The drive back to Haywood was a blur. I managed not to get myself , or anyone else killed. Parking in my spot in the underground parking garage, I sat with my hands gripping the steering wheel. My chest was burning, and my throat felt dry and swollen. Les' words swam uncomfortably in my mind…"married shortly after you left"…."The cop". Closing my eyes I tried to regain control, but it didn't seem to help. The vision of her curled up next to Morelli made my blood boil. This can't be right. She couldn't have thought that I wasn't coming back, especially after the night that we had together before I left.

_I pulled her towards me, the smell of Dolche Vita filling my sinuses and causing a rush of blood to a certain extremitiy._

"_Dios, Babe." I whispered, wrapping her hair in my hand and touching my lips gently to hers. "I don't like leaving you like this."_

"_Ranger, I understand." Her breath was lust-filled and heavy. "Just come back to me, Batman, come home safe and soon."_

"_It shouldn't take too long, this mission is pretty basic. I can't give you details, but I have done similar in the past and I expect to be home within a few months." Pulling back enough to look into her eyes I stared, feeling the calm that I always feel when I look into her crystal blue eyes. "If you need anything, you know to give Tank or one of the guys a call. There's still a standing order to watch over you, so there is never a reason for you to be in harm's way."_

"_I will be fine." She sighed, kissing my nose. "Knowing that you will be coming home to me will make any time that you're away worth it."_

"_I love you, Babe." I growled out before my lips came crashing down on hers. Passion erupted deep within me and I needed to feel her, needed to be inside of her. Reaching down, I pulled her t-shirt out of her jeans and ran my hands around her waist. Her skin was soft, almost too soft. I felt as if I was going to break her. I broke outr kiss and made my way down her chin to her neck, nipping at the sensitive junction of her shoulder._

"_Please, Ranger." She begged, her hips grinding against me. There would definitely be no need for begging, no tonight, not ever. I picked her up and carried her into her bedroom and gently placed her on her coverlet. Her chest was heaving and her eyes danced with the same passion that I felt burning in my stomach. I slipped off my shirt and smiled as I heard her gasp and run her soft pink tongue over her bottom lip. _

"_Tell me, Babe." I whispered as I gently covered her body with mine. She looked quizzically at me, and placed her hands on either sides of my face. "Is it really over? You and Joe? I can't take you going back to him again."_

"_Carlos," The sound of my name from her lips made me shudder with pleasure. "I love you more than I have ever loved anyone. I could never go back to Joe, and would never want to even if you decide tomorrow that you don't love me anymore. You have let me love you, and finally I have your love in return."_

_We made love long into the night and morning. My plane was to leave at 0700, and I was not going to spend a single second away from her. We showered together, dressed and drove to the airport. I was standing at the gate, watching the other passengers board when I turned to her to give my goodbyes._

"_Babe." I stroked her cheek as I saw tears forming in her eyes. A stabbing pain of guilt ripped through me. "Please Babe. Be strong for me, stay safe. I love you." I kissed her pulling her tightly to my body, memorizing every curve._

"_I love you, Carlos." She hiccupped, running her hands through my hair and looking deeply into my eyes. "Come home to me, and be safe."_

_I took one final look at my Babe, kissed her with everything I had and made my way onto the plane. 'The sooner I leave,' I thought. 'The sooner I can be back.' _

A knock at my car window broke me from my memories. I looked up and saw Tank staring down at me. His face was filled with concern, and annoyance. With a sigh, I grabbed my duffel bag off the passanger seat and got out of the car.

"Good to see you, Rangeman." He said as I grasped his outstretched hand. He pulled me into a half-hug and patted me on the back. "Brother, you should have called. I didn't want you to find out this way."

I nodded, closing the car door. We took the elevator up to my apartment on the seventh floor. Tank was pouring two glasses of whiskey, as I tossed my bag into the bedroom, kicked off my shoes and slipped on a tank top and black pajama pants.

"Here." He handed me the tumbler and I downed it in one swallow. He shook his head and refilled it as he sipped his. "We don't know what happened. She was fine, coming in to work on searches for Rangeman, catching skips for Vinnie and looked happy."

I slumped down onto the bar stool in the kitchen across from Tank. "Something must have happened." I took a drink of the whiskey. "She wouldn't have gone back to him, unless something happened. She was still on watch, right?"

"Brother, she is STILL on watch." Tank smiled, his teeth bright against his dark complexion. I raised an eyebrow at him. "We weren't going to scrap Bomber Duty until you told us to."

"Thanks." I smiled. They love Stephanie, and I know that they wouldn't let her just leave. "Have we gotten any new intel? Anything that would indicate what happened?"

"Well.." Tank began, slamming the rest of the whiskey and filled his glass again before topping me off. "There's something that you need to know, but I know you are going to freak out." My teeth ground together and I heard a low growl, a little surprised that it had come from me. "She had a baby,a little boy."

My heart sunk and broke. I knew that she would stick out a miserable married, and sacrifice her happiness if it meant keeping a child in it's home. I think that I stopped breathing for a moment, because I found myself with my head between my knees and Tank's giant hand pressing on the back of my neck.

"Easy, Boss." He gently whispered. We stayed like this for a few minutes as I gathered my wits. I sat up, Tank's hand still on the back of my neck.

"Shit, Tank." I croaked, my voice filled with the heartache I was feeling. "This isn't right. This can't be happening. She said that ….FUCK! Something isn't right."

"I know, brother." Tank's hand squeezed comfortingly, before dropping it to the countertop. "Now that you're back we are going to get to the bottom of this. She hasn't spoken to anyone since she got married, not even Lula. Why don't you get some sleep. In the morning we will gather all the intel we have and create our strategy. "

I nodded, patting his hand appreciatively and padded my way to the bedroom. I collapsed on the bed, letting exhaustion finally overtake me and slept.


	4. Chapter 3

I woke up sore, every muscle in my body ached. I turned, pulling the sheet over me, trying to show some form of modesty. Joe was laying next to me arms and legs sprawled out across the king size bed, hair mussed and breathing noisily through his mouth. Reaching down to the floor I grabbed the t-shirt that I had been wearing last night before Joe came home. I slipped it quietly over my head and slid silently off the bed. My legs wobbled hazardously under my weight, forcing me to grab a hold of the night stand so I didn't fall.

"Mmrrmff.." Joe groaned. I stood motionless, staring terrified at him. 'Please, God, let him go back to sleep.' I thought. He rolled over, smashed a pillow with his fist before slipping back to sleep. I let out a quiet sigh, letting out the breath that I had been holding.

Making my way slowly out of our bedroom, I headed towards the bedroom at the end of the hall. Bruce was lying quietly in his crib, his deep chocolate brown eyes twinkling as he saw me. I smiled, cradling him in my arms. My heart ached as I stroked the dark brown curls off of his forehead and stroked his cheek.

"Hello, little Batman." I cooed, pressing my nose to his for an Eskimo kiss. I changed his diaper. "Are you hungry?" He gurgled and smiled in response, before I heard the distinct growl of his stomach. I chuckled at this, knowing exactly what he felt like. "Let's go feed your little beast."

I made my way down the stairs to the kitchen, praying that my legs would hold out as I maneuvered the steps. I sighed triumphant as my feet hit the tile of the kitchen. Placing Bruce in the bouncy seat near the island in the kitchen I made his bottle. I had wanted to breast feed, but Joe didn't like the idea of my breasts being out of commission for any length of time. I fought tooth and nail, but after a heated argument and a black eye I gave in.

When the bottle was ready, I picked him up and headed towards the living room stepping gingerly over Bob who had sprawled out over the doorway. Sitting down on the couch, I fed him his bottle and thought to how I got to where I was right now.

_Ranger had been gone for a little over a month, but instead of wallowing in my own personal pity-party, I threw myself into work. I was still only part time at Rangeman, but with the occasional distraction and Vinnie handing me skips I kept myself occupied and my bank account in the black. Everything changed after a distraction for a high-bond FTA in Newark. Tank had called me up to his office one afternoon and explained the job. Morton Billings was charged with Rape, child endangerment and assault. He was a big guy who loved to drink himself stupid, beat women, and get high. We didn't take any chances, pulling ten Rangeman to the bar. _

_Getting him to leave the bar was simple, and required nothing more than a batting of my eyelashes, and a suggestive flip of my hair. But, when we were about to walk out the door a large angry Italian stepped in front of me. _

"_What the fuck Cupcake?" He growled. Panic rose in my throat. "Who the fuck is this? Manoso kick you out of his bed already?"_

_Morton looked from me to Joe back to me before realization hit him. "Manoso?" He asked, pulling me tightly to his chest and pressing a knife to my side. "You with fucking Manoso?"_

_Joe shook his head sighed and pulled out his gun. "Listen fuckhead." He said the barrel of his gun pressing on Morton's forehead. "This isn't going to go well for you." He flashed his badge and I felt Morton tense up behind me. 'Great move, Morelli.' I thought. _

_Morton pushed me forward, his knife cutting into the material of my dress and slicing my waist, and ran towards the back door of the bar. Joe leaned over, and helped me up. Shaking his head and cursing he lead me towards the door, pushing me into his car forcefully and closing the door. Tank, Les and Bobby ran up the car, screaming at Morelli._

"_What the fuck are you doing, Cop?" Tank yelled, getting within inches of his face._

"_I'm taking care of my girl. Now, back off before I arrest you for kidnapping and intent to solicit." Morelli's voice was thick with anger. _

"_You fucking... " Les lunged at Morelli, but Tank caught him around the waist. He struggled for a few minutes before screaming something in Spanish and stalking off towards the Rangeman van._

"_She needs to be checked out. Let Bobby do it, he's medically qualified. I can't release her to you without knowing that she is okay." Tanks voice was calm, but I could feel the anger he suppressed._

"_It's only a scratch." Morelli scoffed nonchalantly. "I'll bring her to the urgent care clinic when we get back to Trenton." With that he ran to the driver's door and sped off._

_I found out I was pregnant at the clinic. Joe was stone faced, his anger uncontrollable and wouldn't be suppressed by his cop face. _

"_We're going home." He snarled as I got into his car. I buckled my seat belt, leaning tightly against the door trying to give as much room between us as possible. When he pulled down his street, I began to contest._

"_Joe, this isn't my home. Please take me back to my apartment." My voice was soft, and weak. 'Way to go, Steph.' I thought to myself. 'Show him whose boss...you wimp.'_

_There was no answer. He stared out the windshield, parking his car in front of his house and pulling me up the steps and into the entryway. I pulled against his grip, but he was too strong._

"_Joe, please. You're hurting me, let me go." I cried as he yanked hard against my last attempt to get away. He pulled me in front of him, arms tightly grasping my shoulders, eyes boring holes into my own._

"_This is ending now, Stephanie." He growled. I shook my head, confused about what he meant. "We are going to get married, and there will be no more Ranger. No more bounty hunting."_

"_Have you lost your fucking mind, Morelli?" I asked, pulling again against his grip, before yelping in pain._

"_I didn't want to have to do this, but you took this too far. Letting that fucking thug knock you up." His words were hard, his eyes murderous. "On Friday, we are getting married. You can have this bastard child, but I want nothing to do with it. If anything we can drop it off at his office building and let them handle it."_

"_Fuck you!" I screamed kicking his legs and pulling with all my strength to get away. He released one shoulder and grabbed the back of my neck, before slamming me face down onto the kitchen counter. He gathered both hands with one of his and pulled them up over my head._

"_Listen, Cupcake. This bullshit is over. I will hurt you if I have to." With that he gripped the back of my head by my hair and pulled my face off the counter. "You should be thankful that I don't make you abort that fucking bastard spawn you have growing in you."_

_I gasped as he slammed my face back down on the counter. I tasted blood, and ran my tongue over my teeth to make sure they were all in place._

"_Why do you think that I would stay with you, Joe?" I sobbed, trying to control my voice. "You're a fucking animal."_

"_You will stay with me, because if you don't you will never be able to live with yourself." I could hear the smile in his voice. "I have a few contacts that would love to see your precious Ranger's head on a stake. It takes one call, Cupcake, and he's good as dead."_

"_Ranger is too smart to get killed by anyone that you would know, Morelli." I smirked. "I know that he would kill them before they even knew where he was."_

"_Yeah," He spat. "But they don't know about his daughter. His mother. Or what about his little sisters. I bet they can't get away, could they?" 'Shit.' My brain screamed. 'I can't let this happen. I can't be responsible for all those innocent people to die.'_

"_Please, Joe." I begged. "This isn't going to work. You aren't going to be happy with me, please just let me go."_

"_Not in your life." He laughed, pulling back his hand and smacking me painfully on the ass. "Now, the boys have missed you. Let's let them say hello."_

Bruce let out a small cooing noise as the bottle finished. Gently placing him on my shoulder I burped him before bringing the bottle back to the kitchen. Last night, Joe had beaten me, raped me and threatened to kill Bruce. I needed to get out of this house, out of this life, and far far away. Looking towards the door, I realized that this might be the only time I Have to leave. Joe was out cold after a long night of getting drunk and abusing his wife. He would sleep until noon. Without hesitating, I quietly grabbed a blanket from the back of the sofa, wrapping Bruce in it, grabbed the diaper bag and my purse before grabbing the keys to the Explorer.

"Later, Bob." I whispered as I opened the door. "Good luck."


	5. Chapter 4

After securing Bruce in his car seat in the back, I quickly got into the front seat. My hands were shaking as I started the Explorer and put it into gear. Pulling out into the street I realized that I had no place to go. My parents were a definite no-go. My mother would call Joe and I would be beaten and unconscious by lunchtime. Mary Lou would be the first person that he would go to when he realized that I was gone. It wasn't until I was on the interstate when I realized that I was just wearing one of Joe's oversized t-shirts, panties and slippers.

"Fuck." I softly cursed. "This definitely was going to put a damper on where I can go. It's not like I can get a hotel room or anything." I sighed, reaching into my purse and grabbing out my cell phone. Joe had monitored my phone calls, so I knew that whomever I was going to call I had to make it good. He would come for me, and do whatever it took to bring me back. After another gut wrenching sigh, I dialed a familiar number and waited for the other line to pick up.

"Plum Bail Bonds. This is Connie how can I help you." Connie's pleasant thick accent sang through the phone.

"Connie?" I asked, unsure of how she would gauge my calling.

"Oh, my god. Stephanie!" I was relieved to hear only concern in her voice, and not anger. "How is it going, hon?"

"Connie, I need to ask you a favor."

"Anything, Steph." She whispered into the phone.

"I need you to make a three-way call to my cousin Gabi. She's living at my apartment, but I am sure that she is already at work at Rangeman." I was desperately trying to maintain the false calm in my voice.

"Sure, hon. Let me look for the number." I heard her flipping through her rolodex. "Hon, what's going on? Are you okay?"

"I'm leaving Joe." I whispered. "I can't do this anymore; Bruce and I aren't safe there."

"Shit, Steph." Her voice was filled with sympathy. "Do you need me to call Tank? Or maybe Les?"

"No." a sob broke through the barrier. I pulled into the exit closest to the mall, and parked the Explorer. I looked behind me to check on Bruce. He was sleeping, softly sucking on his knuckle.

"It's okay." Her voice soothing. "I'm connecting to Rangeman now. Do you want me to direct the call?"

"Yeah." I said quietly. "I don't want them to know anything. I need to talk to Gabi." After a few moments I heard the other line ring, and then pick up.

"Rangeman securities, this is Ram how can I direct your call?" Ram's voice echoed across the lines. I had to cover my mouth to stifle my sobs. I wanted desperately to cry out to him to help me.

"Hello, Ram." Connie's tone was pleasant and reminded me of an infomercial. "I was hoping that you could connect me to Gabi's line. It's about a skip that she and Les brought in the other day."

"Sure, Connie." Ram's replied sweetly. "Hey, you still want to go to Shorty's for the game on Friday?"

"You know I do, Ram." She purred.

"Great. I'll connect you now." Ram clicked the line over and while we waited for Gabi to pick up I spoke.

"You and Ram?" I asked Connie.

"Yeah, he's a nice guy, not to mention absolutely gorgeous." She giggled.

"Plum." Gabi's voiced into the phone.

"Gabi?" I asked whispering. "Is this line secure?"

"Stephanie?" I winced at the volume of her voice.

"SHHH." I said. "I don't want everyone to know that I am calling."

"Oh, sorry." She whispered. "What's up?"

"I need your help. I was wondering if you could get me and Bruce into a safe house. I know that Rangeman has them spread out all over the place." I winced as my voice cracked from the strain of pushing back tears.

"Fuck." She swore softly. "Are you okay? Do I need to bring you into the hospital again?"

"No. I think that I'm okay. I just can't go back. I can't do this anymore." My sobs escaped this time again, and I no longer could form words. Gabi swore into the phone again, and I could hear her rustling papers on her desk.

"Where are you?"

"In the mall parking lot. I took the Explorer."

"Shit." I heard her stand up. "You know that he bugged the truck. I will be there in 10 minutes. Do NOT get out of the car. If you see Joe, drive and then call me when you are safe. Do you have a gun?"

"Gabi, I don't even have pants." I had to laugh a little at this.

"What? Where are your pants?" She was yelling now.

"Calm down. I woke up and put on Joe's shirt and slippers. That's all I got." I rubbed my face, trying to wipe away the tears.

"I will bring you something to wear." More sounds from the other side of the phone. "Stay there. Don't move, unless you see Joe. Understand?"

"Yes." I said, softly. I heard her hang up on her line.

"Connie?" I asked into the phone.

"Yeah, hon?" She sounded as if she had just had the wind knocked out of her.

"Thanks."

"Steph, do you want me to come?"

"No. Gabi will put us in a safe house. Please be careful, when Joe finds out I called you he will be pissed. Don't let him onto anything. If anything, tell him I talked to Vinnie. I am sure that he deserves an ass kicking."

Connie giggled and we said our goodbyes. The ten minute wait felt like hours or days. I kept glancing back at Bruce who was still sleeping soundly.

"Well, my little Batman." I said softly. "Guess you and mommy are going to find a new place to live."

I slammed the phone down, locked my computer and grabbed my utility belt. This was not good. She had only called me a few times, and they were to bring her to the hospital after Joe beat the shit out of her. I could only imagine what he did to her to finally force her to leave, something that I Have been begging her to do for months. I pushed in my chair, flipped open my phone and before I could dial tripped over the wheel of the chair and fell flat on my face.

"FUCK!" I screamed, getting up and kicking the chair across the room. "God damned fucking piece of shit chair!"

The entire COM room fell silent. I cracked my neck, smoothed out my Rangeman uniform and headed for the elevator. As the door's opened, I felt a hand on my shoulder.

"Gorgeous?" Les said. "Where you going without me?"

"Can't this time, Sexy." I snarled over my shoulder, wriggling my shoulder out of his grasp. "I will be back in a few, meet me down in the garage then. I am going to need your help." The doors shut and I pressed the button to the garage.

'Fuck this secrecy bullshit that I promised her.' I thought. 'This was going to end. Joe was going to be out of the picture forever, whether or not I had to personally put her in one of the cells downstairs.'

When the doors slid open I launched myself towards my car. A brand new Chrysler 300, shiny black. I squealed out of the garage, more than likely leaving tire tracks in my wake. I was pretty sure that Tank would have me out there scraping it off with my toothbrush, but at this point I didn't care. Stephanie and I had always been close, even though she was a couple years older than me, and lived a thousand or so miles away. She didn't tell anyone who the Bruce's father was, or what happened to have her suddenly change her mind about Morelli and marry him. As I sped down the street, I flipped open my phone and pressed the second speed dial.

"Plum residence." Aunt Helen sang over the phone.

"Let me talk to Uncle Frank." I said gruffly.

"Now, Gabrielle. Where are your manners?" He voice dripped with sarcasm.

"Damnit." I scowled. "Put him on the god-damned phone."

"Well, I never…" She never finished the sentence, but I heard her yell for Uncle Frank and complain about my "terrible phone manners" and the "lack of respect" I showed towards my elders.

"Hello, Gabi." Uncle Frank's voice .

"Uncle Frank, I need you to meet me at Rangeman in about 20 minutes." I knew that he didn't like Joe, and had suspicions about the abuse.

"Is Steph okay?" He whispered into the phone, surely trying to keep from Aunt Helen from hearing.

"He finally beat her enough to convince her to leave." I spat out, trying not to take it out on him. "She called and wants me to pick her up and bring her to a safe house."

"I'll kill him." He growled. "Helen…Helen…get my gun." I heard Aunt Helen began to scurry around the house saying something about barbarians and rumors.

"Uncle Frank, right now Steph needs us to be there for her. I am going to bring her to the empty apartment at Rangeman. It's the safest place for her."

"I will still bring my gun." He said solemnly. "And I am still going to kill him." I laughed.

"Okay, Uncle Frank. Just meet me there."

"Okay, Gabi." He sighed. "I'll see you there in 20."

Pulling up into the parking lot I saw Joe's greet Explorer in front of the Macy's entrance at the mall. Since it was still early, there weren't very many cars parked there. I pulled up next to her and got out. She was slumped over the wheel, her shoulders shaking. I knocked on the door, and gasped as she raised her head. She was sporting a swollen black eye, bite marks on her neck and arms, split lip and eyebrow, and bruises covering every exposed piece of skin.

"Holy Fuck!" I cried as I pulled open the door. She wrapped her arms around me and sobbed.

"I'm so sorry." She cried, tightening her grip. "I know that I have been stupid. I never should have married that son of a bitch. I can't let him do this to me, or to Bruce."

I placed her in the passenger seat of my car, before reaching back and pulling a sleeping Bruce out of his car seat. Handing him to Steph, I opened the back door of my car and installed the car seat in the center seat, pulling the diaper bag and her purse and setting it on the back seat.

"Let's put him back into his seat." I said taking him from her shaking arms and securing him in his seat. He was only 4 months old, but was strong. He had woken in Steph's arms and reached for the Rangeman logo cooing and gurgling happily. I laughed, pulling off my jacket and placing it in front of him draped on the back of the seat so he could see it. Sliding into the driver's seat I turned to her and smiled. She was watching Bruce kick happily at the jacket. "He likes the Rangeman logo on my jacket."

"It figures that he would." She shook her head smiling. I opened my mouth to ask but she interrupted me. "Never mind."

I put the car into gear and headed down the street. She curled herself into a ball, stretching the shirt over her bare legs and rested her head against the window. Before we even made it through the first set of lights, she was asleep.

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

I have been posting the chapters as I finish them. I have a general idea about how this story is going to play out, but usually the characters take on a mind of their own and force me to put their story down as they see fit.

I am loving the feedback, and hope to have another chapter for y'all soon.

Happy Reading.


	6. Chapter 5

I watched as she slept, as we drove to Haywood. I turned on the radio and grabbed my phone to make a call.

"Santos." Les' voice shouted from the phone.

"Sexy, we have some serious issues here." I whispered tightly into the phone. He sighed heavily, and I could have sworn that I heard his heavily gelled spikes rattle. "I need you to call the trauma doctor that I saw after that one distraction a couple months ago."

"Shit." He swore. "What's going on, Gorgeous?"

"I am bringing Steph in, but I can't let anyone know it's her." My grip tightened on the phone. "Joe worked her over real good. She finally got the balls to leave him, but I am worried that she might get scared to try to go back to him."

"How bad is it?" His growled through clenched teeth.

"Bad, Sexy." Glancing over at Stephanie as she shifted, untucking her legs from her shirt. I gasped when I saw the dry blood caked against her thighs. "Fuck. I'm gonna kill that cock-sucking.." I ground my teeth so not to wake her.

"What?"

"Tell the doc to bring a rape kit. We are going to get this fucker. I don't care if I have to hand-cuff her to the god-damned bed post." I heard Les press the phone against what I can assume was his thigh before yelling out a rather impressive tirade of personal threats towards Joe and creative cursing. When he returned to the phone he was almost panting with anger. "Bring down a sweatshirt, and some pants for her. I can't have her going in like this."

"The apartment on 4th isn't ready yet, but I have a two-bedroom. She can stay with me." He growled, and then sighed. "What about the baby?"

"He seems fine." I glanced towards the rearview mirror. "He's playing with my sweatshirt." I chuckled. "He's fascinated with the Rangeman logo. We will have to play it by ear for now, but I will get him some gear this afternoon."

"What's your ETA?"

"I am just turning onto Haywood now." When Rangeman came into view, I saw Uncle Frank's cab idling at the curb. "Let Uncle Frank in. He's gonna help me get her situated and hopefully convince her to stay."

"I see him." Les called, and I heard the garage doors open and saw Uncle Frank pull in with me on his tail. I parked away from the elevators, between two large SUVs to block the camera's view. My phone chirped. Looking down I saw that it was Tank. I ignored it, and prayed that he would wait until after we got her into the apartment. I got out of the car, and waited as Les walked up to me.

"Hey." Les flipped his phone closed. "She will be here in 45 minutes. No shower and we have to try to keep her calm."

"Good." He handed me a large black hooded sweatshirt and a pair of sweat pants. "She's still sleeping.

"Is she okay?" Uncle Frank asked, running up next to the car.

"She's okay, he smacked her around good." There was no way in hell I was going to tell him that I suspected sexual assault.

"I brought her emergency kit." Uncle Frank said, pointing to his cab. "I bought it after she had the baby. There's a portable crib, clothes for her and the baby, diapers and the essentials for a couple of days."

I nodded, thankful that Uncle Frank was so prepared. "Let's get her and Bruce upstairs. She is going to stay in Les' apartment for now." I said as I walked around to the passenger side and opened the door. I could feel both men tense next to me at her appearance.

"Steph." I whispered, putting my hand gently on her shoulder. "Wake up. We're here."

"Hmmmm." She groaned as her eyes slowly came open. She looked at Les then Uncle Frank then back to me. "Why are we here?" Panic was flashing across her face. "I can't be here. It's not safe."

"Beautiful," Les crouched down in front of her. "No one is going to hurt you here. This is the safest place for you." He reached out to touch her, and she pulled back, shaking her head.

"Sweetheart," Uncle Frank's voice was calming. "You and my grandson are going to stay here. I won't let you argue this." She looked into his eyes, searching for the reassurance that she desperately was seeking.

"Yes, Daddy." Her shoulders slumped over and she turned to get out of the car.

"Wait." I pulled the sweatshirt over her head and held out the pants for her to step into. Slipping the hood up over her head, I helped her stand and pull the pants up to her waist. She gasped as she went to take a step forward and almost fell to the ground.

"Beautiful." Les' voice was tight with concern. "I'll carry you." He pulled her up into her arms, holding her bridal style. She put one hand on the side of his face and mouthed 'thank you' before leaning against his chest. "Meet you in my apartment." He called over his shoulder before running towards the stairwell. I knew that the stairs was the best way to go since he could maneuver around the camera's view enough so that her face would be hidden. Although, I was pretty sure that Uncle Frank's presence has already perked an interest.

Nodding to Uncle Frank, I loaded him up with the baby's gear before unlatching Bruce from his seat and heading towards the elevator. We made it to Les apartment in silence. Stephanie was sitting on Les' sofa with a blanket on her lap. Les had motioned to Uncle Frank were the spare room was and helped him carry in the gear. I handed her Bruce and nodded to Les as he walked back into the living room, before heading up to the 5th floor.

As the elevator doors opened, I saw Tank standing hands on hips waiting for me.

"Boss." I said coolly stepping around him.

"What the fuck, Cricket?" He barked loudly, following me into the COM room. I headed straight to Binky and Cal who were on monitor duty.

"Anyone else see?" I asked, staring at them with my best 'kill you in your sleep' glare.

"Just us and Tank." Binky replied, his eyes barely leaving the screen.

Leaning down so that my face was between them, I whispered. "If either of you mention this to ANYONE, I will castrate you and skin you alive." I smiled as they tensed over the mention of being castrated.

"Not a problem, Sexpot." Cal said. "I don't remember seeing anything out of the ordinary anyways, did you Binky?" We both turned to Binky, who was looking like a deer in headlights. He shook his head and focused back on the monitors, mumbling something about liking his dick too much.

"Good." I turned to walk away, but ran into Tank's massive chest.

"Office." He barked, pointing towards his door. "NOW!"

I mock saluted him. "Yes sir." And headed into his office, stopping a few feet in front of his desk.

Closing the door behind us, he stalked over standing directly in front of me. He was so close that he had to bend so that we could be face to face.

"Explain."

"Someone I know was in trouble. She needs a place to stay, and Les offered his spare room." I said coldly.

"Who is it?"

"I can't tell you that." I shivered as he put a hand on either shoulder and lifted me up off the ground so that we would be face to face.

"Who?" His tone was cold and unwavering.

"Tank, please." I whispered, wincing at the hold he had on my arms. He glared at me, his jaw tight with anger. "Fuck, man. You're hurting my arms."

He set me down on his desk and placed his arms on either side of my hips, leaning in towards me.

"Cricket, if you brought who I think you brought here. You better tell me now." He was growling now, another shiver ran up my spine.

"Damnit, Tank. She's scared, and hurt, and I can't let her go back to that fucker." I leaned towards him, our noses touching. "If you kick her out he'll probably kill her, and I swear if that happens I will come after you. I don't care how big and tough you are, I will kill you."

Tank sighed, leaning his forehead against mine. "Cricket, you don't understand exactly what she means to all of us here. We don't know what's happened to make her hate us, or why she married that asshole."

"No one knows why she married him. They were broken up for two months before they got married." I put my hand on his face gently, and he pulled me into a huge hug.

"Can I see her?" His voice was soft and defeated now.

"Let me talk to her. Just promise to keep this quiet. I don't want all you guys storming down there, she's beat to hell. I have that trauma doctor coming in shortly and I am sure that after she is seen she won't want to talk to anyone."

He nodded, but didn't let me go from our embrace. "This complicates things." He sighed, holding onto me another minute before setting me back on my feet and looking in my eyes. "Ranger is back, and he and Steph have a history."

"Yeah." I snorted. "I met him last night in my apartment. Is he always so creepy?"

"Unfortunately," Tank chuckled. "He's crazy in love with your cousin; he just doesn't know how to deal with it. He's kind of emotionally stunted."

I laughed, but stopped quickly when I remembered all of last night. "Fuck Tank. I had him at gunpoint last night. He was pretty pissed. Do you think he'll fire me?"

"Not after he finds out you brought his Babe back." Tank kissed my forehead, and put one hand behind my back leading me out of his office.

"Y'all are fucking weird as hell here, you know that?" I said as we walked to the elevator. "Crazy fucking stalker stands over my bed while I sleep, fucked up cop marries my cousin, and don't even get me started about all the weird shit I learned about Cal and Les. This place is a mad house."

Tank pulled my pony tail. "But you love it here." He swatted my butt. "You're just as bad as any of us here."

I turned as I got into the elevator, and put on my best "pondering" face. "I am pretty bad. Mostly I love it here because I get to see all you sex-ass men all day." I smirked, raising a single eyebrow. "And know that I could kick any of those nice asses any time I want." I heard Tank's laughter as the door slid shut and descended back to the fourth floor.

I took a deep breath in front of Les' apartment. It was going to be a long day, and I was sure that Joe was going to find his way over here to drag her back by her hair. Tank will take care of him though, I am sure of it. I pushed open the door without even knocking. I never knocked on the guys doors, and I think that they liked that. Being such big "Bad-ass Mercs" they aren't used to women feeling so comfortable around them. To me, they were all a bunch of Teddy Bears. Well, Teddy Bears that could easily kill a man with their bare hands.

Steph was still sitting on the sofa, clinging onto Bruce. Les was sitting in the lazy boy to her left and Uncle Frank was next to her on the couch. Steph looked up at me when I walked in the door, handing Bruce to a startled Les and running to me. We held onto each other, her sobbing softly against my shoulder, and me gently stroking her hair.

"Steph, everything will be okay. Trust me. You are safe here." I whispered to her.

"You don't understand. He'll kill them." She sobbed loudly, her body shaking against mine. I squeezed her tightly, looking over her shoulder at Les who shrugged his shoulders.

"Who is he going to kill, Steph?"

"Ranger's family. Julie, his sisters, his mother…everyone." I could barely understand what she was saying. Her words had come out between sobs.

"Beautiful, why would he go after the family?" Les' asked.

"Because of Bruce." Steph stepped away from me, still grasping onto my hand. "He's…" Sob, hiccup. "He's..."

"Pumpkin, he's what?" Uncle Frank whispered, coming up to her and holding her other hand.

"He's Bruce's father." She sobbed before collapsing to the floor. I stared at Bruce, who was giggling at Les. Les' mouth had dropped open and was staring at him. I stepped up to Bruce, looking more closely at him. His eyes were deep chocolate brown, his hair was thick, dark brown and long enough to curl at his ears. His skin tone was similar to Stephanie's, maybe a shade or two darker. I remembered Ranger's face last night, and saw the resemblance. I was pulled from my thoughts by Les' words.

"Hey, little guy." Les whispered, kissing the bottoms of Bruce's feet. "I'm your Uncle Les. Your daddy is my cousin, and he is going to be so excited to meet you."


	7. Chapter 6

My head was pounding and my heart was racing. I watched Les play with Bruce and realized that soon I was going to have to have a talk with Ranger, and the Merry Men. They deserved to know what happened, and why I did what I did. I sat; engrossed in my thoughts when there was a loud knock at the door. Everyone froze, staring from one to another. The knock came again, this time louder.

"I'll get it." Les stood handing me Bruce. "Go into the bedroom and wait with your dad. Hopefully it's just the doc." I nodded and made my way to his bedroom, as it was closer, and sat on the bed with my father and Bruce.

I took a deep breath and paused for a second with my hand on the door knob. I prayed that it was the doc and not some nosy Rangeman. Opening the door I found myself face to face…well, rather face to chest, with Tank.

"Santos, you have a problem figuring out how to open the door. It's a pull from the inside, remember?" He laughed, pushing his way inside.

"Tank!" I grabbed for his arm. "What the fuck man?"

"Chill out." He stopped, turning back around and pointing to my open apartment door. "I brought the doc up."

A petite woman with soft gray curls stepped nervously into my apartment. I reached out a hand to her, and introduced myself.

"Lester Santos." I said, sending her my best smile to calm her nerves. "I spoke to you earlier."

"Amelia." She smiled back at me grasping my hand in a gentle grasp. "Where is she?"

"In the bedroom." I pointed back to my bedroom. "We followed your instructions, and she hasn't showered."

"Wonderful." She hitched up her bag, and headed towards the bedroom.

"Wait." I called after her. "Let me get the baby. He doesn't need to be in there for that."

Following her into the bedroom I waited as they exchanged pleasantries. Steph kissed Bruce on the forehead before handing him off to me.

"You staying?" I asked Mr. Plum. He looked at Steph, who just covered her face with her hands.

"Until I have to leave, I will stay." He grabbed Steph's hand and kissed it. "Everything is going to be okay, Pumpkin."

I closed the door behind me, cradling a giggling Bruce in my arms, and made my way to the kitchen. "Uncle Les is going to go get you something to eat?"

"Uncle Les, huh?" Tank laughed. I jumped, and then shook my head. 'Way to be alert, Santos.' I thought.

I shrugged my shoulders and stopped when I realized that I had no idea how I was going to feed him. "Gabi?" I called over my shoulder. "How do I feed him?"

"Hold on." She called. She had been leaning against the bedroom door, waiting for the doc to come out. "His formula and stuff is in his diaper bag. We should probably check and see if he needs to be changed, too."

Stepping back into the living room I sat down on the couch and waited. I felt a shadow pass over us and knew without looking that it belonged to Tank.

"Holy Fuck!" He whispered loudly. I glared at him over my shoulder and motioned to the baby as if to say 'watch your mouth'. "Is that…that can't be…"

I nodded as Gabi handed me a diaper and wipes. I stared at them for a minute, as if she was presenting me with a human head.

"Come on." Gabi groaned. "It's just a diaper. You've got the same equipment…there should be no awkwardness." He shoved them again in my face, plastering a huge grin on her face. "Plus, he's your nephew."

"I gotta sit down." Tank croaked before collapsing down into one of my recliners. I heard something pop, and winced at the thought of losing one of my favorite game chairs. Tank rubbed his face and was sweating. "I am so dead. I don't like third world countries; I'm too old for that shit." He was mumbling and swearing.

I grabbed the diaper and laid Bruce down on the couch to change him. "You get the next one, Gabi." I called as she walked back into the kitchen to make a bottle. As I got him dressed, I turned to look over at Tank. He was pale and looked like he was going to puke. Putting Bruce in a football hold, I raced over to Tank. Grabbing the scuff of his neck I pushed it down between his knees and told him to press against the back of my hand.

"Here, Les." Gabi said, pushing a bottle towards me while she took over with Tank. Bruce and I sat down on the couch and watched Tank and Gabi as he drank his bottle.

"Boss." I whispered in Tank's ear, as I gently scraped my short nails across his scalp. "Take a deep breath. Everything is going to be fine."

Tank raised his head and grunted. "Cricket, I think I'm going to have an aneurism."

Laughing softly, I grabbed his face with both hands and kissed his forehead. "For a big bad mercenary, you are SUCH a drama queen." He grumbled and then wrapped his arms around me. Letting out a squeal, as he flipped me onto the floor and straddled me.

"You just don't understand who you're fucking with yet, Cricket." A huge shit-eating grin spread across his face as he wiggled his fingers towards me. I desperately tried to wrench out of his grasp as his wiggling fingers jabbed into my sides. I screamed as he assaulted me with tickling fingers. "Now, say Uncle and I will let you go."

"Fuck you!" I screamed, kneeing him in his ass. "When I get up, I am going to kick your ass."

"Jesus!" Les hissed. "Can you two control yourself for five seconds? You're gonna scare the baby."

"Fine." Tank got up, pulling me to my feet. "Behave." He growled as he released his hands from my arms.

We all jumped as the bedroom door opened, and Uncle Frank snuck out before quickly shutting the door behind him. He stalked over to me, and grabbed my arm gently to lead me away from Tank and Les. We stopped when we reached the kitchen. He wrapped his arms tightly around me and kissed both cheeks.

"Thank you so much, Gabi." His voice was tight. "He beat her terribly, and he….Shit….Gabi, you know what he did. I can't sit here and know that he's out there walking around."

"Uncle Frank, I understand." I snuggled into his chest and wrapped my arms tightly around him. Ever since my dad died, Uncle Frank has taken up his post. He has always been there for me, and I was glad that I could do something for him. "We are going to take care of him."

"Thanks darling." He kissed me again on the forehead and pulled back from me, leaning against the countertop.

"How's she doing, otherwise?" I asked, mimicking his stance on the adjacent countertop.

"There are a lot of bruises, a couple of cracked ribs. We have to bring her in to get x-rays. Amelia thinks that she might have a facial fracture, and she might have another stress fracture on her pelvic. Her ankle was wrenched and she has quite a few jammed fingers. She is in there right now doing the rape kit." He gulped audibly. "She fought back, and he went crazy. I feel so guilty. I should have done something. I knew this shit was going on, but I never realized how dangerous he really is."

"Uncle Frank, if anyone should feel guilty it's me." I crossed my hands over my chest, holding tightly to keep in the tears wrenching through my chest. "She has called be before to take her to get taken care of. I knew that he was beating her, and I didn't do anything."

"Gabi, I don't blame you. She told me that she made you promise not to tell anyone." He ruffled my hair. "Let's get out there and wait for Steph to get done."

After about an hour, the bedroom door opened and Amelia walked out. Uncle Frank and I had set up the portable crib and set Bruce down for a nap. Tank and Uncle Frank were occupying the recliners, while Les and I were sitting on the sofa. Amelia smiled and sat down next to me on the couch.

"Well, "Amelia began, putting her hands in her lap. "There was definitely a sexual assault." All three men stiffened, their faces turning to stone. "She is doing good though, and should heal completely with little scarring. As I told Mr. Plum, she needs to have some x-rays done for her ribs, pelvis and ankle. I know that I am usually not the one to give good news, but I do have to let you know that we have more than enough physical evidence to convict this guy."

"Good." Tank sighed. "I would like to give you an escort to the station when you drop off the evidence. The guy who did this is a cop, a detective. He has a lot of connections, and we don't want this to get lost."

"I can make copies of the pictures and send one set to you, and keep the other. The physical evidence will be brought to the forensic lab in Washington D.C. I have some business there and can bring it personally. As with the pictures, we can save a few samples for you to keep just in case. Let me make duplicate moldings of the bite marks, and then I will be on my way."

"Bite marks?" Tank growled.

"She has multiple bite marks. They are pretty deep, but I am sure that I got both DNA, and a pretty good dental mold." Amelia smiled. "I don't want to sound egotistical, but I am the best on the East coast. And this case is pretty open and shut. I DO NOT see him being able to get away from the charges."

We all nodded numbly. I followed her back into the bedroom to see Steph laying in the fetal position on Les' bed. I sat down next to her, running my hand over her hair.

"Hey." I whispered. "You doing okay?"

She looked up and me and nodded. "Is Bruce okay?" Her voice was little over a whisper.

"Yeah." I smiled. "Uncle Les has been doting over him."

"We are going to make another set of moldings, Stephanie." Amelia said, sitting down with a small bowl of blue gunk. I watched as Steph stripped down to her panties. Her eyes were blank as I took in the entirety of her injuries. I felt tears stung my eyes, as I reached down and grabbed her hand. Amelia was done within 15 minutes. I helped Steph pull on Les' sweatshirt. We sat holding hands when Amelia whispered her goodbyes, and packing her things and walking out the door.

We sat in silence for what seemed like hours, before her stomach growled angrily.

She laughed weakly and smiled. "I gotta feed the beast."

"What would you like?" I smiled. "Anything you want, Steph."

"I would love a pizza from Shorty's. I haven't had one since I found out I was pregnant." Her smile reached her eyes. "Oh, and everything on it."

"I can do that." I chucked her under the chin gently. "Do you want to come out in the living room? I think that you already know, but Tank is in there. He's not going to say anything, Steph. But if you want I can have him leave."

"No." She shook her head. "I need to stop hiding. Amelia and I had a good talk, and she helped me figure out exactly what I have to do." She reached and pulled on Les' pants before we walked out into the living room.

"Hey, Little Girl." Tank said, sweeping her up into his arms and hugging her tightly. "God, I have missed you."

"I missed you to, Tank." Steph nestled her head in the crook of his neck and wrapped her arms around him. She once explained to me how she felt about the guys at Rangeman. The "Merry Men", as she calls them, are the brothers that she never had. They were the only people that she knew here in Trenton that supported her no matter what. When Tank put her back on her feet, she pulled his face down to her and gave him kisses on either cheek. "I am so sorry for not trusting you to help me." She whispered so quietly that I think that Tank and I were the only ones that heard it.

"I am going to head back to the house, Pumpkin." Uncle Frank said. "Your mother and I are going to have a nice little head-to-head."

"Okay, Daddy." She walked to him and gave him a big hug. "Thank you so much for everything you've done for me. I'm sorry that I left you in the dark. I am NOT going to be that stupid ever again."

"Steph wants Shorty's." I said to the guys as Uncle Frank left. "Who wants to go and get it?"

"I will." Les said, pulling up and walking towards the door stopping to kiss Steph gently on the top of the head. "You want the usual, Beautiful?"

"Of course, Les." She smiled. "Everything on it." I heard Les chuckle as he grabbed his keys off the key-rack by the door and left.

"I am going to go and check on Bruce, and if he will let me take a little nap until Les comes back." Steph said, walking back into the spare room where Bruce lay sleeping. She stopped as her foot hit the doorway, and she turned to Tank and I. "Tank?"

"Yes, Little Girl?" Tank's eyes sparkled, as a he smiled.

"Can you let me know when Ranger is available?" She was speaking so quietly that I had to strain to hear her. "I need to talk to him, but I don't want to do it here. Not with Bruce here."

"I could have him up on seven if you'd like?" Tank's smile had faded slightly.

"No." Her voice cracking. "I can't go up there…not for this. Can I meet him in his office?" Tank nodded. "And Tank, one more thing?"

"Anything, Bomber."

"Can you put some men on Ranger's family, especially his mom and sisters, and Julie? I don't want anything to happen because of me." I could hear the tears threatening to fall from the tone of her voice.

"That." Tank smiled again. "I can do. There isn't anything that will get to them. Trust me."

"Thanks, Big man." She called over her shoulder as she closed the door.

I turned to look at Tank. He was shaking his head, and rubbing his scalp. I pulled him down onto the couch and curled up in his lap. Wrapping his arms around me, we sat thinking.

"I don't know if I can keep him from running down here, Cricket." Tank's voice was somber. "I want to abide by her wishes, but I don't know how he's not going to know she's here. I also don't want to be on the other end of the beating when he finds out that she's here and he doesn't know."

"He can't be that bad, Tank." I said, reaching up and scratching my fingers gently across his scalp. "Steph wouldn't have fallen for him if he was such an asshole."

"He isn't an asshole, just a little emotionally distant. He has never been one to put his feelings on the table." Tank said, closing his eyes as I lifted my other hand to follow the first. "Gabi, that feels so good."

"I know." I smirked, rubbing my nose against his. "You're like a puppy. I bet if I scratched behind your ears, your leg would twitch."

"Woman, if you scratch behind my ears more than my leg is going to twitch." He opened his eyes and showed me his best wolf-grin.

"Ooooh…you're bad." I smacked his chest lightly. "You know one day I am going to have to take you up on your offer."

"Anytime, Cricket." Tank purred.

Tank and I, as well as the majority of the Rangeman crew, flirted hopelessly. I didn't grow up in the 'Burg (as Steph calls it) and find nothing wrong with playing the field. While I have yet to sleep with any of them, I have taken advantage of our nights out at the clubs and made out with a few. I am only 28, and I am desperately single. If the guys knew how long it had been since I had a "social orgasm", I would have them knocking down my doors.

Tank and I sat cuddled together on the couch for ten minutes before I sat up, before his phone chirped. He struggled underneath me to get to his phone, which just happened to be in the pocket I was sitting on.

"Speak." He barked. "Yes." He rolled his eyes. "Right here with me. I can send her up." Another roll. "Yes, she's dressed." He patted me on the thigh and smiled. "Trust me boss, she'll send you to the mats. She ain't like Bomber. She'll kick your ass." Then he flipped his phone shut.

"Do I want to know?" I cringed.

"Ranger wants to see you upstairs, ASAP."

"Fuck me."

"Didn't we already establish that sex wasn't a good idea right now?" He laughed pulling me up onto my feet. I smacked him on the arm. "Just remember, he's a tough guy, rough around the edges, but he's fair and decent. He and I have been friends since preschool. You can trust him."

"Do you want me to set up the appointment with him and Steph while I am up there?" I asked, smoothing out my uniform. He nodded, and I made my way for the door. "If I am not back in an hour, call in the reserves."

"Yeah, like they would know what the hell to do against Ranger." Tank chuckled. His laughter followed me into the hall and stopped as I got into the elevator and ascended to the 5th floor.


	8. Chapter 7

**AUTHOR'S NOTE**

_I realize that my multiple perspectives have been confusing. Starting this chapter, I will try to let y'all know when I switch. When I have some free time I will try to go back into the story and put them in. Thank you for all of the reviews…they have been very helpful and inspiring. I hope to update this story at least once a week, as I already have another story floating around right now, plus my latest novel. Once again…thank you for all the reviews. Keep them up! _

_Happy Reading!_

_R.A. (Obsessed Reader22)_

***********************Gabi's POV**********************

The elevator doors slid open and I marched over to Ranger's office. I had been in there with Tank, since he was left in command in Ranger's absence. I stopped when I reached the door, unsure exactly what I should do. I never knocked with the guys, and they never knocked with me. It was a very literal open-door policy. In fact, this was the first time that I had ever seen the door closed...except for special meetings. I turned and noticed Cal and Binky were still sitting watching monitors.

"Hey boys." I called as I walked over to them.

"Hey Sexpot." Cal said, not turning his head from the monitors.

"'Sup." Binky tipped his head back slightly, also never letting his gaze leave the monitors.

"I got a question. The big boss man." I pointed a thumb over my shoulder at the door. "wants to talk to me. What's the protocol here?"

"Sexpot, just don't let him see weakness." Cal smiled, grabbing my hand and kissing it. "He's a great boss, and an even better solider. You may not want to be as playful as you are with us. He's kind of a hard-ass."

I nodded, rubbing his tattoo. "So, you don't think I should just run in without knocking and call him a douche for breaking into my apartment and watching me half-naked sleeping?"

Cal and Binky's eyes shot to me. Cal smacked the back of Binky's head and pointed to the screens. "What do you mean; he broke into your apartment?"

"Last night I woke up to him at the end of my bed staring at me." I smiled. "Don't get me wrong; waking up to a sexy man in my bedroom in the middle of the night is not my idea of a bad time. It's just usually I know that they are going to be there, you know?"

"Nice." Binky said, struggling to keep his eyes on the monitor. "So, what were you wearing that you were half naked? Did Ranger get to see where your mysterious tat ends?"

Another slap from Cal and a giggle from me. "Oh Binky-bear…" I leaned down and put my lips so close to his ear that he could feel the vibrations in my voice. "Not even your bad-ass bossman is man enough to see where that ends." I nipped his earlobe playfully and smacked him on the head. "And stop having hard-ons about my tat…it's creepy."

"Damn!" Binky said, rubbing the back of his head. "Y'all are going to give me a tumor or some shit."

"Shut up, Binky." Cal said, before turning back to me. "Just go in there and show the professional kick-ass chicka that we all know and love. And if he disrespects you just pull him to the mats."

"Thanks, boys." I pinched Binky's cheek, and kissed Cal on the cheek before heading to Ranger's office. I knocked hard on the door three times.

"ENTER!" His voice boomed from behind the door. I pushed open the door and walked up to his desk. He was wearing a white button up shirt, with a loosened tie hanging down over a few undone buttons. He looked up as I entered, the traditional Rangeman "blank face" slapped securely in place. He stood when I reached his desk and walked around it to face me.

"Well, I guess that I should introduce myself." He said, putting out his hand for me to shake. "Carlos Manoso, but you can call me Ranger."

"Gabrielle Plum." I said shaking his hand, making sure to put a little extra oomph. "You can call me Plum, Gabi, or whatever. The guys all have nicknames for me, so you might want to see what's available."

He smiled a minuet smile, and then cleared his throat. "I have been looking over your past performance record, and you have been doing a great job."

"Uh...Thanks." I said. I had been standing with my feet shoulder-width apart, and my hands on my hips, but put them in my pockets trying to feel less super-heroish. "I have had a lot of experience, and with the additional training from the boys here I have upped my game quite a bit."

He stared at me for a couple of minutes, which made me incredibly nervous. The man had seen me in my pink heart jammies…not very tough. He kicked his head back slightly and spoke. "So, you're Steph's cousin?"

'Here it goes.' I thought. Taking a deep breath I answered. "Yeah. Her dad was my dad's brother." I nodded after I spoke, hoping to end the chat about anything personal. I didn't know him, and didn't like giving people information about myself unless I could really trust him. His breaking into my apartment hadn't quite cemented a man with honorable intentions. Even if he thought I was Steph.

"You seem to have fit right in with the men." He changed the subject gracefully, probably noticing my discomfort of the previous question.

"They are my boys. I do for them, what they do for me." I smiled, thinking how far that statement has gone. He stared at me, with one eyebrow cocked. 'Oh, I can do that too.' I thought, cocking my eyebrow in response. "Questioning my loyalty, Ranger?"

"No." He said flatly, crossing his arms in front of his chest. "Just trying to feel you out."

"Only if I get to cop a feel too." I slapped my hand over my mouth, my eyes going wide. 'Shit.' I thought. 'He's totally going to kick my ass.'

He laughed a deep throaty laugh. "I see that Babe's unintentional inside voice coming out is heredity."

"Yeah. Shit." I started cracking my knuckles. "It just slipped out. Working with a bunch of sex-starved, horny men makes a girl have to adapt."

"They aren't harassing you, are they?" He asked, with a serious tone. His eyes mimicking. "I will not tolerate that kind of behavior."

"Well, I wouldn't say they are harassing me, because I give it just as bad as they do." I smiled. "I may be a girl, but I can handle them just fine. I have my ways."

"Should I ask what they are?" Once again he raised his eyebrow. I shook my head, rocking back on my heels. "Well, that's all I got for you." He turned to walk back behind his desk. I grabbed his sleeve gently, letting go when he stopped and looked at me.

"Uh...Ranger?" I cleared my throat. "I actually had to discuss something with you."

"Shoot." He leaned against his desk, his arms crossed loosely across his chest.

"Steph would like me to arrange a meeting with you in your office." I watched as his face went from neutral to wincing to blank. His breathing had kicked up a bit, and he took a moment before answering me.

"Why?"

"I don't know if I am at liberty to tell you." I said nervously.

"I think I should at least know what I am getting myself into, don't you?"

"Let me see what I can tell you." I reached into my pocket and grabbed my phone. "May I step out for a moment?" He shrugged and nodded. Stepping outside the door, I walked towards the bathroom. There was a hallway that leads to it, and the door had a lock. I dialed Tank.

"Speak." Tank's voice boomed through the phone.

"He wants to know why she wants to meet him. What should I say?" I whispered.

"Shit. Hold on." I could hear him talking to someone. I don't think that it was Steph, as she was probably still passed out in bed. "Tell him the bones, Cricket. Let him know basically what happened. Make sure that you make him understand that he has to respect her wishes on this, or she's gonna clam up."

"Will do, Boss." I said. "Hey, if I am not back down in an hour…come up and make sure that I am not dead?"

Tank chuckled, "Yeah, sure. I am pretty sure that he won't be killing you, though. Too much paper work."

"Very funny." I hung up the phone, squared my shoulders and walked back into the room. Ranger hadn't moved. He was still leaning up against the edge of the desk.

"So?" He said, cocking one eyebrow and standing up, his hands falling loosely to his sides. "What's the verdict?"

"She wants to meet you here. It will be more comfortable for her. She also wants you to respect her privacy until then and not try to contact her. She's not in a good place right now, and REALLY doesn't need the stress." I chewed on the inside of my cheek nervously.

"Understood." His face was blank, but I could see his eyes searching for what it could be about.

"When is a good time for her to come up?" I asked.

"There is always room for her on my schedule." He said quietly.

"I think that I should let you in on what you are going to see when you meet with her." I began to get nervous, and fidgeted nervously with my cargo pocket. He nodded his head slowly; taking my every move in. "She was beaten pretty badly, and looks pretty rough." I saw his jaw tighten, and his fists clench.

"Who?" Even though he asked the question, I was pretty sure that he already knew the answer.

"It ….it was Joe." I stammered. He launched himself away from his desk, and headed towards the door. I stepped in front of him and held onto him with both hands, bracing myself against him.

"STOP!" I yelled. He wasn't stopping. He slowed down, and had me pressed into the door with my arms outstretched against his chest. "STOP! You can't do this now!"

Grabbing my shoulders, he stared down at me with cold black eyes. "Why not?"

"Because she can't handle this right now. She needs to know that she and the baby are safe. This is the only place she feels that, and if you go out all cave-man she's gonna freak out and we'll lose her!" I shouted in his face, curling my fingers into his shirt. "I let her go too many times for you to come and FUCK it all up!"

He loosed his grip and took a step back. "She's here?"

"Yes." My voice was soft. "She's safe, but needs a minute to rest and get her head straight. There's a lot of shit going on that you don't know about. And before you ask, it's not my place to tell you."

"Fuck!" he yelled, punching past my head at the door, leaving a hole in its place. He stalked back and forth, obviously trying to control himself. I jumped when I heard knocking at the door.

"Ranger!" Cal's voice rang through the door. "Is everything good in there?"

"It's fine." I called back. I heard muffled grumbles from the other side of the door. Hopefully Cal would trust me and let Ranger get into control before freaking out and coming in guns blazing. Ranger was now leaning over his desk, his hands planted shoulder-width apart. His head was hanging down, and I could see his chest heaving with anger. I walked over to him. "Please." I put a hand to his shoulder. He jumped and stared at me. "Please, I can't bring her in here without knowing you can control yourself."

He stared at me for what seemed like hours, but I assumed it was just minutes before he finally spoke. "What the fuck happened while I was gone?" his voice was defeated.

"No one knows why she married him, except for that we all knew she was pregnant." Taking a deep breath. "The first time she called me to bring her to the hospital was shortly after their honeymoon. She was 5 months pregnant. He beat her, and broke her wrist."

A terrifying growl came from him, but I continued. "There have been multiple broken bones, bruises, black eyes….but this is the worst that I have seen her. She makes me promise not to tell anyone, and that she will handle it. I have given her tasers, guns and mace. None of which she has used. He just beats her more. From what I understand he has never touched the baby, but he despises Bruce. He's told her multiple times that he wishes that he was never born."

"His own son?" Ranger asked, more to himself then to me. "Why the fuck would my Babe let this happen? Where were my men?"

"She wasn't allowed to talk to anyone from her life. Even her family has been put on the no-call list. She can only talk to Joe and his family. She has my number in her phone listed under PHARMACY."

He nodded, and cracked his neck. "When can I see her?"

"If you are good for anytime, I will bring her up as soon as she is ready." I grabbed his hand gently and looked into his eyes. "You have to stay calm with her. Take down that mask you have up, and let her in. She needs you, and I can't let her be disappointed again."

"I understand." He grasped my hand. "Thank you."

"You're welcome." I dropped my hand from his turned and walked out of his office. I don't know if I helped, or hurt the situation. I guess that we will find out soon. I just hope that he can get it under control before he sees her, because God help us if he can't control himself when he sees what that asshole did to her. As I closed the office door, I heard huge crashes, and animalistic screams. Once again, Cal had jumped up to see what was going on. I raised my hand and shook my head, to let him know that he was okay. Cal nodded reluctantly, and sat back down.


	9. Chapter 8

THIS IS NOT MINE…ALL JANET EVANOVICH'S. I JUST LIKE PLAYING WITH THEM.

*********************STEPH POV*******************************

I woke up with a start, unsure of where I was. The aches in my body reminded me quickly of where I was and why. I glanced over at Bruce was still sound asleep in his portable crib. I got up, padding my way over to the bathroom door. When I was done, I had fallen asleep in the Joe's t-shirt and really just wanted to get it as far away from me as I could. Glancing over at the clock I noticed that it was 1030. I had been sleeping for about an hour, and had run away from "home" over 3 hours ago.

I opened his closet and pulled out one of his black Rangeman t-shirts and a pair of SpongeBob boxers before heading back to the bathroom. I left the door open so that I could hear if Bruce woke up and took a very quick and very grateful shower. Pulling on Les' clothes and putting my hair in a loose bun I walked to the door and stepped out.

Les, Tank, and Gabi were sitting around the coffee table staring into space. When I walked out they all jumped to their feet.

"Did we wake you, Beautiful?" Les asked, before smiling and looking at what I was wearing. "Never thought I would live to see the day you not only were in my bed, but wearing my underwear." He gave me his wolf-grin. I laughed.

"Pizza is in the oven staying warm." Tank said, walking towards the kitchen. "Want something to drink?"

"Yeah. A bottle of water would be good." I called to him. He nodded as he rounded into the kitchen and disappeared.

I took a seat next to Gabi, who smiled and patted me gently on my leg. "It's all set up for you, hon." She said. Knowing that she meant the meeting with Ranger, I nodded. Tank came bustling around the corner with the box of pizza, a roll of paper towels and four bottles of water.

"When?" I asked taking a bottle from Tank and sighing as he flipped open the box to the cheesy goodness within.

"Anytime. He will be in his office until you come." She said nonchalantly, grabbing a slice of pizza before taking a huge bite.

"Great." I grabbed a slice myself and moaned as I bit off my first piece.

"God, I've missed you Beautiful." Les growled playfully. I rolled my eyes and smiled as he winked at me.

"Les, knock it off." Tank spat. "Poor girl doesn't need you harassing her right now."

We ate in relative silence with only a few 'please pass' and 'thank yous' spoken. When the pizza was completely gone I turned to Gabi.

"I am going to need something other than Les' underwear to go talk to Ranger." I tugged lightly at the hem. "Although, SpongeBob is fun…it's not exactly what I was thinking."

"Your dad left a care package of goodies in the spare room." Les said. "I am sure that he brought something for you to wear, as well as supplies for Bruce."

"Thanks." I nodded, walking back to Les' bedroom to check on Bruce. He was still sleeping, but I knew that he would be up soon. Leaving the door to his bedroom open I walked into the other bedroom, more than aware that all three of them were watching me intently. "I am just going to get dressed." I called out softly before I closed the door.

Leafing through the contents of the duffel bag my dad brought for me I found a pair of jeans, a blue v-neck t-shirt, white cotton bra and panty set and socks. I even found a tube of mascara and some lip gloss tucked into a pair of black CATS that I had left at my parents' house a few Christmases ago. My eyes teared up a little as I thought about how much I must have put my family through, how much I put all my Merry Men through, and…oh, God…what I put Ranger through. I don't know when he got back, and I don't know how much he knew. I was out of the loop in so many ways, for so long that I could barely tell you what month it is. Tears were flowing and sobs wracked through my chest.

"Stop it." I told myself. "You can't do this now." I shook my head, and wiped my eyes with my hands. Taking a deep breath I sat down on the edge of the bed and slipped on my boots, loving the familiar feeling. I swiped my lips with lip-gloss and added the minimal application of mascara for bravery. I stood, smoothing out the non-existent wrinkles before heading out the door to the crowd waiting for me.

"Looking good, Little Girl." Tank said as he got up and wrapped his large tree-trunk sized arms around my shoulders.

"Beautiful…you are BEAUTIFUL!" Les smiled, following Tank's actions and kissing me gently on the cheek.

"I know that Bruce is going to be waking up soon, and is going to want to eat. I noticed that my dad packed cereal, and some pureed foods for him. Would you be able to handle that?" I looked at all three of them. Tank and Les whipped their head to Gabi.

"Shit, guys…really? Just because I am a girl doesn't mean I know how to do this shit." Gabi scoffed. "Plus, are you telling me that you big bad-asses can't handle feeding a little baby?"

I laughed, "If anything, just give him a bottle. Hopefully I will be back before he would get to cranky."

"If anything," Les added. "We could call Ella down. She is good with babies." My heart broke a little as I remembered how I had told Ella that I wished he would adopt me. I hope that she would be able to forgive me. I nodded and shook my head softly to clear it of the tears that were threatening to fall.

"I need to do this, or I am going to back out." I said, wringing my hands. Tank pulled me into his chest and wrapped his arms around me.

"Do you want one of us to come with you?" His voice muffled as my ears were currently being surrounded my massive Tank chest and biceps. I nodded, tightening my grip around his chest but not able to touch my hands. When he released me I stepped back and bit my bottom lip nervously.

"Who wants to face Ranger with me?" I asked, unsure of who exactly I wanted to put between me and Ranger if things went badly.

"I will go." Les said. "He's my cousin. We're family. I can threaten him with calling abuela." I nodded and Les took my hand and lead me towards the door. "Come on Beautiful, I know that you are nervous, but trust me everything will be okay."

"Good luck." Tank and Gabi called to me as we walked out the door. I was really nervous about stepping outside of Les' apartment door. All of Rangeman was monitored, and I knew that my presence, if not already known, would be office gossip within minutes. Les, noticing my apprehension, placed his arm around my waist and pulled him close to me.

"You are safe here, Steph." He said softly into my ear. I turned to face him, his green eyes soft and filled with love and concern. "You are mi familia. My blood. Even before all of this. I have your back as well as every man in this building…including Ranger." I smiled and he kissed the top of my head. We rode the elevator just like that, his arm protectively curled around my waist. I lavished the comfort and the support it gave me.

The elevator doors opened to the COMM room. I gasped as the entire floor was on their feet staring at us. Hal, Cal, Binky, Zero, Hector, Benny, Bones, Junior, Woody, Vince, Silvio, Ram, Rodriguez, Manny, Roy, Cesar and even more faces that I didn't recognize. We all stared at one another for a moment, before Hector squeezed his way through the crowd. As one of the smallest Rangeman employees, it involved a lot of gently coaxing and pushing. He finally broke through the crowd and ran to me.

"Bonita!" Hector cried, disengaging me from Les' grasp and hugging me tightly to his chest. "Gracias a Dios que están de vuelta a casa. Te extrañé tanto, mi Bonita."

I wrapped my arms around him, snuggling my face into his neck. Hector and I always had a strange relationship. He didn't speak English, and I didn't speak Army. We often "talked" over contraband ice cream in the stairwell. He was always one of the first ones on scene when I was hurt, or one of the first to visit when I was laid up in hospital or my apartment. He was also the one that always brought me box of TastyKakes on every holiday, birthday and sick/lockdown day I had.

"I missed you too, Hector." I whispered. I didn't know exactly what he had said, but I knew what he had meant. He pulled back and cupped my face in his hands. Looking into his eyes I saw how concerned he was. I shook my head and told him that I was okay. He nodded and kissed me on the end of my nose before handing me back to Les.

"Ready Beautiful?" Les grinned, grabbing my hand and squeezing gently. I nodded, and followed him as he walked towards Ranger's closed office door. I was pretty sure that he was aware that I was there. The silence of the COMM room and Hector's greeting were pretty evident. Les knocked and pushed the door open before a response was given. I took a deep breath as we walked into the door. Les was directly in front of me, but I could already feel the familiar tingle at the back of my neck. Right away, even without seeing the majority of the room, as Les was so broad, I noticed that the room was nearly empty. All of the beautiful hard-wood furniture was gone, as were the pictures, books, and various knick-knacks. I peeked around Les cautiously, unable to gather my courage enough to stand tall. My heart fluttered frantically when I laid eyes on Ranger. He was slumped over his desk, his hands fisted on top of each other, and this forehead resting on top of that. His hair was short, just barely falling over his first knuckle of his fist. His white button-up shirt was rolled up to his sleeves and was open three buttons down from the collar.

"Ranger." Les said softly, causing Ranger to jump and look up at him. Immediately seeing me, he stood, pushing the chair out hard so that it clamored against the wall.

"Babe." I could hear him whisper as he stepped around his desk and walked towards us. Embarrassment and shame caused me to jump back around Les, grabbing a hold of the back of his shirt. I wanted to apologize, to tell him why I did what I did, knowing that it wasn't a good enough reason to do what I had done. I wanted to run to him, wrap myself around him and kiss him. I wanted to tell him how much I loved him, and for him to tell me that he loves me too.

"Beautiful." Les whispered, reaching back and pulling my hands from his shirt and twisting me in front of him, his front to my back. I covered my face with my hands, and slunk my shoulders slightly. Serious regret flashed through me. 'There was no way he was going to forgive me, let alone want to be part of our lives. I never should have done this.' I thought as tears began to burn my covered eyes. Les placed his hands on my shoulders and whispered into my ear. "He loves you, Stephanie. Please tell him."

I nodded, took a deep breath and uncovered my eyes. Ranger was standing right in front of me. His eyes filled with concern, frustration and …love? Seeing him after all this time broke my heart all over again. Tears fell uncontrollably down my face. Without hesitation, Ranger pulled me into his arms, kissed my hair and whispered to me.

"Babe…Steph..Dios, Babe..I love you, please…Please, talk to me." His voice was soft and kind. After a minute or so, I gained control of my crying and pushed gently back against his chest.

"I...I...have to tell you something." I stumbled out. "But I don't know where to start."

He picked me up and carried me to one of the few remaining pieces of furniture, a large burgundy sofa near his desk. He set me down on the sofa, and kneeled at my feet his hands gently holding mine. His fingers stroked my knuckles as he stared into my eyes.

"Where ever you want to start, Babe." He said, lifting the corners of his mouth into his mysterious smile.

"Okay." I took another deep breath and began. "After you left, I began to work full-time at Rangeman. I was mostly doing searches and stuff, but occasionally I got to go out in the field at help Hector and Vince. I also did the low-level FTAs for Vinnie, and I was getting good at it." I smiled of how well I actually had been doing. Ranger smiled at this too. "After a month or so, Tank asked me to do a distraction job. It was pretty easy, and went off without a hitch for the most part...until Joe showed up and not only broke my cover but got me sliced open. He took me to the urgent care clinic to get stitched up. That's when I found out I was pregnant. He was furious, and took me 'home' which ended up being his house. I asked him to take me back to my apartment, but he refused telling me that we were going to get married. He told me that if I didn't I would never be able to live with what was going to happen." I gulped, forcing down the vomit that was threatening to reveal itself. "He explained that he had been looking into you, searching your background, your family. He threatened that if I didn't marry him by that Friday that he was going to have Julie, your mother, sisters, grandmother…murdered. He knew people, and would tell me every time we got into a fight about how he still was in contact with them. He threatened me daily with the murders that would be over my head. I couldn't let that happen, I still don't know if I can stay away. I can't let anyone you love be hurt because of this."

"Babe." He pulled me into his arms. "Why didn't you call Tank or Les? They would have helped you."

"I couldn't. Joe locked me down until after I had the baby, then he threatened that if I ever talked to anyone that associated with you that he would ….he would kill Bruce." Tears poured out of me now, nothing holding them back.

"How could he threaten the life of his own child?" He asked, pulling me back to look into my eyes. "He's crazy and stupid, but too prideful to kill his own child."

I couldn't speak. I began almost panting, trying to gather my breath, my thoughts, and my courage. My gaze flicked up to Les, who had pulled out his cell phone.

"Beautiful, show him this." He handed me the phone, and I looked down at it. There on its 2" by 4" screen was my beautiful Bruce, eyes twinkling brightly. Looking up from the picture I gulped, before speaking again.

"Ranger….Carlos," When I called him by his name he gripped my free hand tighter. "I need to…You see…I was…We…Shit." It was like my mouth and my brain weren't cooperating. "I'm sorry." I turned the phone to him, showing the picture of Bruce. He looked from the picture to me, back to the picture, to Les and then back to me.

"Is that?" Ranger's voice was tight, and his eyes sparkled with what could almost be tears. I heard him gulp loudly, and clear his voice. "Is this my son?"

Looking deep into his eyes, I nodded. Ranger launched himself at me, wrapping his arms around me and holding me tightly to my chest. The cell phone fell with a thud onto the carpet. I sobbed into his chest, wrapping my arms around him tightly and apologizing over and over again. We sat tightly embraced for a few minutes before he pulled back slowly, wiping the tears off my face with the pads of this thumbs. I reached out and ran my thumb over the two rouge tears that he had shed, breaking my heart even more.

"Steph," He croaked, his voice filled with unshed tears. "Can I see him? Can I see my boy?"

"Yes!" I cried, thankfully. "Yes, Carlos, you can see your boy." He smiled, cupped my face in his hands and kissed me gently, barely touching my lips. "I love you, Babe."

"I love you, too, Ranger." As I spoke his lips crashed against my own, sparking a whole new set of tears. This time it wasn't about shame, but relief. I was home, and Ranger not only wanted to see his son, but he loved me.

*********************AUTHOR'S NOTE********************

Thank you all for being so patient with me this week. It's been a rough one in my real world. Hopefully I will be adding another chapter within the next couple of days…I would say Wednesday at the latest. Enjoy, and PLEASE REMEMBER…..I love feedback. Let me know that you are liking (or not liking) the direction that this is going. I know that this is hard to believe…but it hasn't even been 24 hours yet! Don't worry…time is going to start moving along now that we got the heavy stuff out of the way.

Obsessed Reader22

R.A.Dictionary - View detailed dictionary

**interjection **

¡gracias a dios


	10. Chapter 9

***NOT MINE…WISH THEY WERE, BUT THEY BELONG TO JANET EVANOVICH. ALTHOUGH I LIKE TO PLAY WITH THEM ANY CHANCE I GET. ******

TANK'S POV

Gabi and I had been taking turns pacing back and forth since Steph and Les went upstairs to meet with Ranger. It was my turn, as Gabi was sitting on the floor playing with Bruce. He was giggling and grabbing his feet with his hands, and laughing as Gabi played peek-a-boo. Watching her with him tugged at my heart, and made me want to change the way that I have been living my life. I am 35 years old, never been married, or had any children. My entire life had revolved around my military career, and now Rangeman. I don't have many regrets in life, but I wished that I had a family. A wife and kids to come home to at night, instead of microwave popcorn and episodes of House on my DVR. Looking at Gabi with Bruce tugged at my heart. I missed Lula, and I wished that she and I could have made it. Maybe I should just move on. Gabi looks amazing sitting with Bruce, and in a way I wished that this was my own private family moment. I sighed, my chest heaving dramatically.

"Tank?" Gabi asked, stopping me in my tracks. I raised my eyebrows at her. "What do you think is going on up there? Do you think that Ranger is making an ass out of himself?"

Walking up to where she was sitting, I plopped down on the sofa across from here. "He's a good guy, Cricket. He loves her, but I am sure that they are going to have to work through some of the hurt."

"I am sure that he is going to crumble when he sees this little guy." She blew a raspberry on the bottom of Bruce's feet, causing him to giggle and snort loudly. "Who wouldn't love such a handsome little guy?" She cooed to him, rubbing her fingers through his long dark curls.

"You look good with a baby, Cricket." I said softly, not wanting to make eye contact.

"Well, soak it in now, Boss." She sighed. "Cause it ain't ever going to happen." She picked Bruce up and walked towards the kitchen. "I'm going to feed him."

I shook my head and as I stood to follow her to ask her what she meant by that, my phone chirped loudly. "SPEAK." I bellowed into the phone.

"Tank, I need you to come down to the lobby. We have a situation here." It was Binkie.

"Explain."

"The Cop is here, asking about Bomber. He's pretty drunk and getting stupid."

A growl escaped before I could contain it. "Keep him there." I hung up the phone and quickly headed towards the kitchen. Gabi was standing, Bruce in one arm, making up baby food for him. She was humming softly and snuggled into his soft curls and kissed his head gently. This brought a smiled to my face, and a flutter to my stomach.

Shaking my head clear I cleared my throat. "Gabi." She turned to me and smiled. "We have a problem. Joe is in the lobby looking for Steph. I am going to go take care of it, stay here with Bruce."

"Save some of the ass-kicking for me." She said, carrying the food and Bruce to the table to feed him. I kissed the top of her head and quickly headed for the door.

LES' POV

I choked back a tear watching my cousin and one of my best friends embracing. I know that they are going to have to work through a lot of things, but this is a good sign. I have known Ranger my entire life, and I know that he wouldn't say ANYTHING that he didn't mean. Feeling a little like a third wheel, I slowly made my way towards the door. Neither of them noticed me opening the door and backing out. I was sure that they needed some time alone.

The COMM room was in an eerily quiet state of panic. Men were rushing around, arranging their gear and flicking on extra monitors.

"What the hell is going on?" I asked Cal who was handing over his COM duties to Zero.

"Shit, man." He said, passing over the last of the paperwork after signing it. "The Cop is downstairs. Tank's called a full-alert."

I broke into a dead run, skipping the elevator and flying down the stairs two and three at a time. That mother-fucker is going to pay for what he did to Beautiful. When I reached the lobby, Tank had Morelli by the throat up against the wall.

"You stupid fucking shit-bag!" Tank was screaming. "You must have a fucking death wish to show your nasty mug here."

"Put me down you fucking thug!" Morelli spat out, although it was a lot quieter than I am sure he had anticipated as Tank had him held up by his jugular.

I walked up behind Tank, and put my hand on his shoulder. Tank turned, his face reddened with anger and his knuckles almost white with force.

"Let me at him, Tank." I said calmly, cracking my neck.

"By all means." Tank quickly released Morelli causing him to crash to the floor gasping. He curled protectively, glaring at us.

"Pathetic." I snorted. "Big tough fucking cop can only beat on women, huh?" I reached down and pulled him to his feet by his t-shirt. He swung for my face, but I quickly ducked out of the way jabbing him in the kidneys. "I was the one that carried her, half-unconscious to my bed." I smirked, hoping that he took that statement for anything that it was worth. Joe's face turned purple with anger and he swung at me again. Once again, he was too slow. But my fist connected happily with his chest. With this he was gasping horribly, which made me smile. "Oh, and don't worry about her getting medical treatment. We had a trauma doc come in and take care of her" Crunch. "….and take pictures" Crack. "…and get your DNA. Don't worry, I am sure that you will get to see all the pics during the trial." I punched him in the face with each pause. He was sobbing like a bitch by the end of my little speech. I let him go, watching him slide into a puddle of pathetic to the floor. Pulling out my cell phone I called Trenton PD.

"Hey, I need a car at Rangeman." I smiled. "Yeah, we want to file a domestic assault complaint, and start a restraining order." I kicked Morelli in the nuts. "Oh yeah. He'll be here when you get here." I hung up the phone and turned to Tank. "Thanks, man."

"Well, I guess that everyone knows that she's here, huh?" Tank smiled.

"Yeah. I guess so." I ran my fingers through my hair. "Do you want to have a meeting, let everyone know what's going on, or should we let Ranger do it?"

"Let's let him do it. If anyone asks, tell them the basics. We can let Steph decide exactly what she wants everyone to know."

"Roger." I said, walking over to the elevator.

"Hey, Les." Tank called. I turned to him, raising my eyebrows. "How is it going up there?"

"Good, man." I smiled. "Real good."

RANGER's POV

My heart was pounding in my chest as I held her. I have been aching to do this since I left her at her apartment over a year ago. My head was still swimming with what she had told me. How could I have left her so vulnerable, especially with my son? My heart swelled again, a lump choking me….my son. She had been through hell, protecting my family….and my son.

I pulled her back, putting a hand on either side of her face. Her eyes were red from crying but still that amazing blue. I wiped the tears from her cheeks with my thumbs and kissed her nose gently.

"Ranger," She whispered, her gaze straying from my eyes. "I can't apologize enough to you for all of this. I can't blame you for being angry. I am angry with myself for being so weak, and stupid." New tears were falling.

"Shhhh, Babe." I wiped away the new tears and sighed. "I am angry. No. I am more than angry, I am livid. My insides are twisted, but not for you. I am angry at myself for leaving you. For not making my men force their way into that house and take you the second they felt something wasn't right. More than anything, I am angry that I trusted Morelli to be a man." My jaw clenched, as my anger started bubbling. I took a deep breath to gain control before continuing. "I am pissed that he put his hands on you. That he threatened you. Threatened my family. And threatened my SON." The last words came out in a growl and I felt her wince slightly. I took a few more deep breaths to control myself. I can't let her see exactly how angry I was, exactly what I wanted to do to him. "You are not the one that I am angry at. I love you more than I thought I could love anyone. And you have given me a son."

She smiled, leaning her forehead against my own. "Do you want to go and see him, now?"

"Yes." I put my finger under her chin and tilted her head back up so we were once again eye-to-eye. "Will you introduce me to our son?" She nodded as I kissed her, pulling her tightly towards me wanting to take away her pain, her guilt and her frustration.

Breaking the kiss, I pulled her to her feet, wrapping an arm around her waist. As we walked to the door, I stopped hand on the handle. "Babe?"

"Yeah, Ranger."

"What's his name? His full name?"

She smiled. "Bruce Wayne Plum. He's my little Batman."

I laughed, kissing the top of her head. "Babe." I smiled as she giggled. "Can I ask a favor?"

She looked up at me. "Anything."

"Can he take my name? Can I make him a Manoso?"

"Of course, Ranger. He is a Manoso."

"Yes. He is." I smiled as I pulled open the door. "He's my boy."

STEPHANIE POV

Ranger and I took the elevator to the fourth floor, his arm never leaving my waist. I was really grateful for this, because I hurt so badly that I was afraid that if he let go I would crash to the floor. Reaching Les' door, I watched as he took a deep breath before he opened the door. Gabi was sitting on the floor, legs v'd out in front of her with Bruce between them. She looked up as we walked in, pulling him into her arms and standing.

"Everything good?" Gabi asked, holding him protectively against her chest.

"Yeah." I smiled up at Ranger. He was staring at Bruce in Gabi's arms with my mouth slightly agape. I nudged him and whispered. "He's not going to bite. He doesn't have any teeth yet."

I released myself from Ranger's arm and staggered over to Gabi. She handed me Bruce and I sat down onto the sofa, patting the cushion next to me.

"I think that I am going to head up to the COMM room. Call me if you need anything, okay Steph?" Gabi said, before nodding to Ranger as she walked past him out the door.

Ranger stood stuck in his tracks for a minute. "Ranger." I smiled again, patting the sofa harder. "Come here." Cautiously he walked towards me on the sofa and sat down, staring at the little boy in my arms.

"Bruce." I sat him up on my lap so that he was facing Ranger. "This is your Daddy." I looked towards Ranger. "Ranger. This is your son, Bruce." Minutes past without a sound from any of us, but it felt like hours…or even days. I watched Ranger's face, hoping to find some sort of emotion, some sort of something. Suddenly, he shook his head as if to clear it and reached out his hands.

"Can I hold him?" His voice was soft, and I could finally see a glimmer of something in his eyes. I nodded, handing Bruce gently to him. Ranger laid the baby on his lap, his feet resting gently against his stomach. I watched as Ranger looked over Bruce from head to toe, examining every finger, every curl on his head. When his inspection was complete he turned to me, holding Bruce gingerly in his arms. "Dios Steph. He's beautiful."

"Yes, he is." I whispered, running two fingers through Bruce's curls. "He looks like his Daddy." I watched Ranger's face, and it looked like something clicked within his head. A soft smile came across his face, and he nodded his head. Bruce let out a shriek of a laugh and blew a raspberry, causing Ranger to chuckle softly.

"I don't know Babe…there's a lot of you in him." He turned and placed a tender kiss on my lips. "Babe. I want us to be a family. Would you stay with me, up on seven? We can start looking for a house, something safe, and big."

"Ranger, I would love that." I gently grabbed his face and pressed a kiss to his lips, shivering excitedly as his tongue passed through my lips. I moaned quietly.

"Let's go home, Babe." He said, leaning Bruce against his chest and cradling his bottom with his hand. "We can send the guys down to get your things. I know you don't want to, but we have a lot to talk about. A lot of decisions that need to be made."

"Okay."

He flipped out his phone. "Move Steph and my son's things up to seven and ask Ella to come up as soon as she can." He flipped his phone shut and looked to me. I nodded and grabbed the diaper bag that was sitting by the couch as we walked out the door. We were going home, finally.


	11. Chapter 10

***NOT MINE…WISH THEY WERE, BUT THEY BELONG TO JANET EVANOVICH. ALTHOUGH I LIKE TO PLAY WITH THEM ANY CHANCE I GET. ******

STEPH POV

I sat on the sofa in Ranger's apartment…our apartment...watching as Hector and Zip carried in Bruce and my things. Ranger was setting up the portable crib again, while Ella directed the guys while holding Bruce tightly in her arms. I waved a goodbye to Zip and Hector as they walked out the door, smiling when Hector winked and blew me a kiss.

"Steph, is it alright that I give him a bottle?" Ella asked, her eyes twinkling with excitement.

"Of course, Ella." I knew that Ella hadn't had any children, and that playing with a baby was heaven. Personally I was thankful that Ella was so excited about caring for him, because I was exhausted, achy and emotionally drained.

"How about I bring him down to my apartment and let you two have some time alone. I can bring him back up when dinner is ready." Her smile widened as I nodded gratefully.

Ranger came and sat down next to me, draping his arm over the back of the sofa and kissing me lightly on the lips.

"How are you doing, Babe?" He asked.

"Tired, mostly." I shrugged. He nodded his head and sunk into the cushions of the sofa tightening his arm around me so that I was leaning against him.

"You help me make up a list of things that you and Bruce are going to need, and then you can take a nap until dinner. You need your rest."

"I can do that." I pushed away from him to stand, walking towards the pile of gear that my father had brought for us. "I don't even know what's in here entirely. Daddy brought it. I guess that he has been making an 'emergency kit' for us for months." I sighed, shaking my head. The guilt over making my dad hurt the way that he had was overwhelming. Ranger stood, walking towards me to wrap his arms around me.

"Babe. Don't make your Dad's show of affection and concern into something negative. He loves you and cares and worries about you." He squeezed me gently. "Let see what Grandpa brought for our little Batman, shall we?"

I laughed as he kissed the top of my head and released me from his embrace. We went through everything, making a list of things that we will need for the immediate future. Ranger had gotten a legal pad and pen from his office and while sitting at the kitchen counter, I began to write everything down. As I was writing down some clothes that I would need, Ranger clicked his tongue at me.

"What?" I said, poking him playfully. "I need clothes. I can't walk around naked. I don't need much, but I need some things."

"Babe. I would be happy if you walked around naked. Ella has filled an entire closet with clothes for you." He smiled.

"I can't wear FMPs, slut clothes and a Rangeman uniform my entire life, Ranger." I smirked. "I'm a mommy now." I laughed out loud as Ranger put on a fake pouty face. "Really?" I smacked him playfully. "I can still wear them, but I can't run around at the park looking like a hooker, or a hitman."

"As long as you still wear it for me." He kissed my cheek.

"Of course."

"We will have to arrange for your things to be brought over from…where you used to live." Ranger paused uncomfortably at the mentioning of my home.

"There is nothing really there. Joe burned all of my clothes, except for those he thought were appropriate for his wife to wear. Rex is dead, and everything else he gave to good will. Bruce doesn't have anything at the house either. Joe refused to spend any money on him, so all the things that I had gotten for him were hand me downs or donated."

A low growl echoed through Ranger's chest. "Steph, did he ever put his hands on our boy?" He looked me in the eyes; his own were black as pitch and seething. "I need to know if that...man…ever put his hands on my boy."

"Carlos." I placed my hands on either side of his face. "Joe never put his hands on our son. He never held him, never fed him, and tucked him in or anything. He saved all his fight for me, and I was very thankful for that."

He pulled me into his arms for a quick embrace before putting me at arm's length. "Can I see what he did to you, Babe?"

I nodded. "Not here. I don't want anyone walking in and seeing it." I lowered my head, embarrassed and ashamed. He stood, taking my hand and lead me into the bedroom, closing the door behind us. I stood a few feet in front of the bed, eyes fixed on the floor and toeing the carpet with my boot nervously. Ranger's hands gently lay on my shoulders.

"Babe." His tone reflecting a plethora of questions. I don't know how he does it, but that man can say more with one word then I could in a week.

"It's okay." I nodded my head, gulping loudly. "I want you to know." He walked in front of me, sitting at the edge of the bed. I felt a little self-conscience as I began to lift my t-shirt over my head. I could hear his teeth grind together as he took in the bruises and bandaged bite marks. He leaned over, touching them tenderly with the pads of his fingers. He reached for the corner of one of the bandages and looked up at me quirking his eyebrows in question.

"Yeah." I whispered. He peeled the tape back slowly, gasping as he saw the bite marks gouged into my skin. Joe was always one to get a little rough in the sack, but add resistance to it and he got downright nasty. I looked down at the exposed mark, wincing as I could easily make out every tooth mark.

"Babe?" He motioned for me to lift my booted foot. I obliged, steadying myself with my hands on his shoulders. When both boots were off he reached for the buttons of my jeans. I took a deep breath as he inched them down, taking in the finger prints, hand prints and even more bandaged bite marks. Removing them completely, he set them gently on the bed next to him where my shirt was laying.

"I'm sorry." I whispered, covering my face with my hands. I was so ashamed, so hurt and incredibly embarrassed to have him see me like this. He stood quickly, hands firmly on my upper arms.

"Don't." He growled. "Don't you dare apologize for what he did to you?"

Tears sprung to my eyes. "I shouldn't have fought so hard against him. He would have just done his business and gone to sleep, but…NO! I had to push him." My head reeled with all the "what-if" and "should-haves".

"Babe!" Ranger yelled, trying to break through my tirade. Flicking my eyes back to his which were intensely staring back. "I am glad you fought back. I'm glad that you still have that in you to fight. Don't put yourself down for being strong enough."

"But you don't understand. I don't usually fight. I usually just do whatever I can to keep him happy. I would just let the beatings happen, for fear that he would move onto Bruce." I was sobbing hysterically. "He threatened Bruce, Ranger. He told me that he was going to drop him off at some fucking foster home, or in the river. I would rather die than have anyone harm him. He's my angel. He is the only reason why I have not killed myself this past fucking year. As long as I had him, I had a part of you!" I wasn't even sure if I was making sense anymore. My brain was exploding with memories of Joe's tirades, his beatings, and the verbal abuse. Ranger curled me into his arms as he sat on the bed, rocking gently back and forth. He was whispering something to me, but I couldn't hear past the buzzing in my head.

It seemed like hours but I am sure that it was minutes before I gained control over myself again. Ranger still held onto me, whispering something in Spanish to me. I wiped my eyes and face of the tears and stared into space.

"Babe?" Ranger's voice was wavering and soft, as if he was having a hard time controlling what was going to be said. I looked up at him. His face was taut and hard. "I don't think that I will be able to let him live much longer."

"At this point, Ranger, I would help you dump the body." I touched his face and watched as he leaned into my hand.

"I would never let you do that, Babe." He said smirking. "Plus, we have an incinerator in the basement. There would be no need."

I shook my head, "Only you, Ranger. Only you."

We sat like that, me in my bra, panties and socks and Ranger in his black dress pants, and white button up shirt, on his bed embracing. When a yawn escaped my lips, Ranger laid me down under the covers in his bed, stripped to his boxers and curled up behind me. I fell asleep the moment his arms wrapped around me and slept better than I had since he left all those months ago.

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:

I would like to thank you all for all of the positive feedback that you have been giving me. I appreciate it greatly, and have been motivated to keep this story up to date. I would like to apologize for the long wait between Chapters 8 and 9 but there were a lot of crazy things happening in the Real world for me. The next chapter will involve Gabi more, as Steph and Ranger need some time to sort things out. Don't worry…Joe will not be left unharmed. He will get what is coming to him.


	12. Chapter 11

**NOT MINE, THEY ALL BELONG TO J.E. I AM JUST THOROUGHLY OBSESSED. REVIEWS = LOVE**

GABI POV

After leaving Les' apartment, I slowly made my way to the COMM room. Sighing I flopped down in my chair at my cubicle. 'What a fucked up day.' I thought rubbing my hands over my face. Sighing I pulled my keyboard towards me and typed in my username and password. As I waited for it to load, I slipped my phone out of my pocket and checked for messages. My screensaver popped up and made me smile. It was a picture of me and the guys on one of our nights out. Les was holding me bridal style with a shit-eating grin on his face. Hal and Cal were drunk as skunks, their noses and cheeks pink, leaning against one another with an arm draped over each other's shoulder. Hector was bent over at the waist laughing at Binkie who was looking incredibly embarrassed. Tank, Bobby, Junior and Zero were all smiling holding beers up to toast the camera. I was so lost in memories of that night that I jumped nearly a foot out of my chair to someone clearing their throat behind me.

"Shit!" I yelped, grabbing my chest.

"Gorgeous. You have to be more aware of your surroundings." Les laughed, spinning my chair around and crouching down in front of me.

"Damnit, Les." I smacked him gently on his arm.

"So, how are our little lovebirds doing?" He pulled the chair closer to him, so that he was crouching down in-between my thighs.

"I think that it's going good." I shrugged. "He looked pretty calm, considering."

"That's Ranger." Les laughed. "I think that they are going to need some time to themselves tonight. So, I called the hospital to set up Steph's x-rays."

"Thanks." I pulled a loose string off of his t-shirt. "How did the little meeting with Joe go? Are we going to need to bury a body?"

"No." He chuckled, putting a hand on my thigh. "He is currently in TPD custody. I figured that the Doc can help us with the paperwork tomorrow. Right now we can only get him on trespassing and assault." He chuckled again, and I raised an eyebrow in question. "He didn't even land a single punch, but Big Dog heard what happened to Steph and decided that we had been assaulted. God, I love having friends in low places."

"Nice." I shivered as his hand gently ran from my knee to my hip and back. "ummm…Les?"

"Oh..." He looked down at his hand, and then smiled up at me. "Not high enough, Gorgeous?"

"Les, come on now." I swatted his hand away playfully.

"Are we still going to Shorty's tonight?" He stood, pocketing his hands. "Tank won't be able to go, but Junior, Cal and Hal were still planning on it."

"Sure. What time are we leaving? Do I have time to go home and change?" I glanced over at the clock on the wall. It was 4:45.

"We were going to leave here by about 730 so we can beat the dinner rush, then head over to Inferno after that." He followed my eyes to the clock. "Do you think that you would have enough time?" he smirked, knowing that when I went out, it usually took me a while.

"It would be cutting it close."

"Why don't I go down to my apartment, grab my clothes and head to your apartment? They can meet us at Shorty's and we can carpool from there in the SUV."

Glancing back up at the clock, I nodded. "I think that would be great. You can help me pick out what I am going to wear." I smiled up at him as I stood. "Let me close this beast back down and get my shit."

He flipped open his phone as he nodded. I heard him talking to who I assumed was Cal, as I logged back off my computer, shut it down and cleaned up my desk. When Steph had called this morning, I had been working on a file and didn't want to leave it out all night. I don't carry a purse on a daily basis, so all that I needed was my phone.

"Coming, Gorgeous?" Les called as he headed towards the stairwell. I ran to catch up to him as we heading down one floor to his apartment. We both stopped dead in our tracks when we reached his door.

"Do you think that they are still in there?" I asked, leaning my ear against the door. "I don't hear anything?"

Suddenly the door flew open and I fell forward landing in a pair of strong arms. I looked up at Zip, his bright blue eyes twinkling and a huge wolf-smile across his face.

"You don't have to throw yourself at me, Lil G." Zip whispered. "All you have to do is ask." Before I could react, Zip dipped me and planted a wet kiss on my lips. I pushed him away wiping at my mouth.

"Damnit!" I staggered away from him, leaning on Les for a moment to catch my wits. "I can't move in this place without being molested."

"Awww, G." Zip cooed. "That wasn't molesting…that was just a friendly reminder what a real man can do for ya'."

I smirked. "And what would you know about what a real man could do?" Les burst out laughing.

"Shit, Man. She got you there."

"Good one, G." Zip chuckled. Hector peeked out from behind Zip carrying Steph's duffel bag.

"What are y'all doing in my apartment?" Les craned his neck. "Where's Ranger and Steph?"

Hector squeezed past Zip and answered Les. "Ellos están en siete. Jefe nos dijo que abrir todas sus cosas. Parece como si estuviera volviendo pulgadas Se trata maldito tiempo"

"Good." Les nodded his head. "Now, get the hell out of my apartment." Zip gathered the last of the stuff and headed towards the elevator. Les motioned with his arm for me to enter, and then closed the door behind us.

"So?" I asked, gesturing towards the guys. "What did he say?"

"They are up on seven. Hector thinks that she might be moving in."

"Good." I walked over to the sofa and slumped down onto it, as Les walked back into his bedroom. I let out a groan and closed my eyes.

"Hey!" Les called from his bedroom. I grunted in response. "Come here and help me find something to wear."

I got up, and stomped my way into his room. "Les, you can't tell me that as Metro-sexual as you are you can't figure out what to wear?" Les was standing in front of his walk-in closet with his hands on his hips.

"I'm not that metro." Les scoffed. "I haven't been pulling in as many as I usually do, and I am starting to think that I am losing my touch. Just need a little assistance."

"UGH!" I threw my hands up in the air and strode over to him, pointing to his bed. "Sit." He smiled, and flopped down on the bed, leaning back on his elbows to watch me. "What are you wanting to go for tonight, Sexy? Badass, Mr. Sensitive, or Romance Novel?"

"What kind of guy do you think that I am closer to?" He asked huskily.

I turned and looked at him, tipping my head in consideration of the options. "None of them." He smiled as I spoke. "I think that you are an absolute man-whore…but I don't know how exactly to dress YOU as slutty."

"Nice, Gabi." He reached behind him and grabbed a pillow, chucking it at me.

"Ouch!" I cried dramatically as it hit me. I whipped it back and went back to digging through his packed closet. "I don't understand how a grown-ass man, who wears black 23 ½ hours a day, has so much freaking clothes." I pulled out a pair of leather ass-less chaps. "For example, what the hell is this?"

"Those, my dear, were a necessary prop." He grinned.

I pinched the hanger between two fingers, as if I was holding a corpse. "Yuck." Hanging them back up I saw what I was looking for, and whipped it off the hanger. "Aha!" I grabbed a pair of distressed bootlegged jeans, before heading towards his dresser. I tossed the jeans and shirt towards him and then pulled open the top drawer. I sighed before reaching in and grabbing a pair of blue boxer-briefs, a white wife-beater and a pair of socks. I turned to see Les, shirtless, unbuttoning his black cargoes.

"Holy Shit!" I quickly turned back around and thrust my hand behind me to give him the clothes. My heart was racing. 'Damn that man.' I thought. My hormones were going to kick into overdrive if I would've seen any more.

"What are you shy?" Les laughed, gently taking the boxer-briefs, tank and socks from my hand. "I am pretty sure that I'm not the first naked man that you've seen."

"Well..." I stammered. "It's been a long time." I struggled to keep my breath steady, and my mind off that super-toned body.

"I hardly believe that one, Gabi."

Infuriated, I put my hands on my hips. "What the hell is that supposed to mean?" I had to force myself from turning around and smacking him in the face.

"There is no way that YOU would have any trouble finding a man to beg to crawl into your bed."

'Well, for your information it is." I pulled my arms tightly across my chest. "There isn't a lot of interest for a girl like me."

I felt a hand at my waist and I turned around. Les was standing in front of me wearing the jeans, socks and tank. His eyes were soft and he had a small smirk on his face. Between the blaring look he was giving me and the thought that he was just completely naked behind me, I could feel myself start to tingle with desire.

"Gabi." His other hand went to cheek. "There is no way that I could ever believe that." He kissed my nose. "You have over a dozen men in this building alone who have practically begged you to take you on a date. Imagine what they would do to get into bed with you?"

"They are just playing with me, like I do with them. I am pretty sure that no one is really serious." I turned away from his gaze, taking a deep breath to steady the hormones that were raging through me. "We should get going. I have to get ready."

"Okay." He dropped his hands and grabbed the green t-shirt that I had picked out for him. As he slipped it over his head I smirked. The t-shirt said 'Ask me about my wiener'. Catching my smirk he slipped on a pair of brown leather boots and looked up at me. "Aren't you going to ask?"

"About what?" I rolled my eyes, knowing the question.

"About my wiener?" He grinned, standing and puffing out his chest. "It's rather impressive you know."

"I am sure." I patted his shoulder gently. "I have heard that you are hung…..like a field mouse."

"Ouch." Les grabbed his chest. I grabbed his hand and began dragging him out of his apartment, as he was frantically grabbing his gun, wallet, phone and keys.

We pulled into my apartment building's parking lot at 6:15. As soon as Les' car stopped, I jumped out and bolted for my apartment. I needed to get into the shower so that I could have time to dry my hair, and get ready. Les chuckled as he slowly followed behind me. As I reached the apartment, I unlocked the door and began stripping the moment that I walked in. I emptied my pockets quickly and set the stuff, along with my guns and phone on the dining room table. Kicking off my shoes I slipped my shirt over my head and ran into the bathroom as Les walked into the apartment, closing and locking the door behind me.

I showered quickly; exfoliating, shaving, and buffing within an inch of my life. It felt great to stand under the hot water, but I knew that I didn't have time to really enjoy it. Jumping out of the shower I wrapped a bath sheet around me, and flipped my hair into a thick towel to soak up some of the water. Whipping open the bathroom door, I streaked to my bedroom.

"My turn."

I jumped at the sound of Les' voice. He was laying, legs outstretched and hands behind his head. He stood and walked over to me, holding a bra and panty set.

"Here. You put these on and I will get your dress and shoes." He turned towards my closet as I slipped the panties on under the bath sheet. They weren't thongs (thank god) but were cute little pink and white boy cut panties with a matching push up bra. Unfortunately, I had to remove the bath sheet to put on my bra. I turned away from him to do so. When I turned back around Les stood holding out a short denim skirt, and a soft pink capped sleeve scoop neck shirt. I slipped them both on, checking myself out in the mirror. It was a cute outfit, not too much cleavage, not too much leg.

"Cute." I told him and sat on the bed as he pulled out a pair of black strappy 3 in FMP. "I have to get my hair first before I even think about putting those on."

After half an hour of blow drying, and brushing I began on my makeup. I knew that wasn't going to take me long. When I was all done, I took one last glance in the mirror before smiling and turning around. Jumping when I ran directly into Les' chest.

"That is why I call you Gorgeous." He smiled, running his fingers through my almost waist length hair. "I love it when you keep your hair down. It's like silk and smells..." He lifted the hair to his face and inhaled. "..like strawberries."

"It's my Fairy-Berry-Strawberry shampoo." I smiled. "How long have you been standing in my bathroom door?"

"Since you turned on the blow dryer." He smirked, handing me the heels again. "We need to get going, or we will be late." I nodded, slipping on the heels and stuffing my ID, some cash and my phone in my pockets. I picked up my gun and stared at it for a bit. Les took it from me and placed it back onto the counter. "We are all carrying. You don't need to worry about it tonight. Unless you decide to go home with some random guy. Then you can borrow my piece."

"Yeah. That is so not going to happen." I said under my breath. Les grabbed my keys, and my hand pulling me out of my apartment and then locking the doors. Before I could say anything, he pushed my keys into his pocket and called the elevator to my floor.

We walked into Shorty's side by side, immediately seeing the group of extra-large men gathered around the (seemingly) small wooden table in the back of the room. We greeted everyone as we got to the table.

"Looking Good, Gabi." Hal said, getting up and hugging me before kissing me gently on the cheek. "We ordered the usual. It should be done in a few. I'm the DD, so "

I took my usual place between Cal and Les. Instantly I found a large mug of ice cold beer in front of me. I sighed gratefully and slammed it. We inhaled three large pizzas with everything and four pitchers of beer in almost silence. I learned the first night out with these guys that food always came first, then we would sit around and bull-shit until we were numb enough to hit the clubs.

"So," I said, pouring another mug of beer. "What's the plan tonight? Since Hal is the DD I am assuming that the rest of us have a plan of getting utterly shit-faced."

"Well, I am hoping to get laid tonight." Junior smiled, winking at me. "You could help me out with that if you'd like?" I rolled my eyes.

"Nope." Les laughed. "Not this one." He pointed at me, before taking a long drink of his beer. "I guess no one is INTERESTED."

"Fuck you, Les." I growled, throwing a spent napkin at him.

"What?" Cal slurred, putting his beer on the table and tipping his head at me. "You can't go ten feet without finding half a dozen men interested in you."

"Drop it." I scowled, trying to find something interesting in the bottom of my beer mug. "It's not that big of a deal."

"Fuck that it is." Junior said, leaning over the table and grabbing my hand. "You can't tell me that you haven't turned down every single man at Rangeman, plus half the men in Trenton."

"I haven't." I could feel my cheeks get red. "Other than you guys joking around, I haven't been asked out since..." I stopped myself, too embarrassed to let them know.

"Since when?" Hal asked, lifting one eyebrow in the official Rangeman query face.

"I really don't want to do this." I begged, covering my face with my hands.

Les leaned over to me, and whispered in my ear. "Gorgeous, we are all your friends here. Friends share things like this. Let us in. You never know, we could help you."

"Fine." I growled, uncovering my face and rolling my eyes. "I haven't had a date in 4 years."

"Really?" (Junior)

"Holy Fuck!" (Hal and Cal)

"You have to be shitting me!" Les laughed, pulling me tightly towards me into a sideways hug. "Good thing you don't need a date to get laid, huh?" He was still laughing.

I groaned and slammed my head onto my hands that were crossed onto the table. There were three audible gasps and one spew of beer.

"There is no fucking way." Junior said seriously. I picked up my head and glared at him. "How the fuck is that even possible."

"I hate you, Les." I growled, slamming my beer and refilling it again. "If I wasn't sitting down I would kick you in the nuts. You all make me so glad that I share with you." My voice was thick with sarcasm. Les was sitting there mouth agape. I reached over and pushed his chin with my finger to close his mouth. "It's not that big of a deal."

"Do you have some sort of religious reasoning behind all of this?" Les finally spoke. His facial expression was as if I had told him that the world was now flat. "This can't be by personal choice."

"Okay. I shared with you. Now can we please drop it?" I nervously looked around. "Where's the damned waitress. I need a shot."

"You are getting laid tonight." Les said calmly, nodding his head.

"Les…I am serious." I turned in my seat and face him, putting my finger in his face. "You will NOT do this. I can't…I won't…you don't understand." I was stuttering.

"Hey, this is ridiculous." Hal said. "Don't you guys think that if she wanted to just get fucked she could? Les, she isn't a whore like you. Maybe she wants an actually relationship before she jumps into bed with someone."

"Thank you, Hal." I said. Finally the waitress came to the table. Instead of ordering the shot, I asked for the check. "Now, let's get the hell out of here. Okay?"

Les, Junior and Cal shrugged and nodded. We paid the bill and all piled into the SUV. The ride over to the club was in semi-silence. The only sound came from the radio and the occasional comment of a female pedestrian or nice car. The parking gods were in our favor again tonight as we pulled into the parking lot at the club. It was 10pm, so there wasn't a whole lot of people there yet but enough to keep it interesting. Hal lead the way through the people to the bar. I was next in line followed by Les, Cal and Junior. It was tradition that I was put second. That way if anyone went to grab my ass, they would have a broken hand. I smiled as someone patted me on the butt as I walked by. I heard a crunch, a moan and then a few choice curse words. I didn't have to turn around to know that Les just punched the guy in the face. Since security was provided by Rangeman, Les would just nod to the security and point.

"Four Sambuca, four beers and a coke." I told the bartender. The moment that the shots hit the bar, big hands swooped on either side of me to grab their shots. Raising the Sambuca up, we toasted. "Cin, Cin." And slammed the shot, crunching down on the coffee beans at the bottom. We did this every time we hit the clubs. It's probably silly, but so are a lot of things we do claiming they are tradition. For example, every time we have a take-down, Binkie wears Winnie the Pooh boxers because he claims that without them bad shit will happen. We all tease him about it, but damn it all if we don't make sure he's wearing them.

"Hal found us a table next to the dance floor." Les yelled over the music at me, reaching for his beer. "Let's go chill for a bit." I nodded, grabbed my beer and took his hand as he maneuvered his way through the crowds of people to the table where Hal sat waiting. Junior and Cal were already hitting on two women at the bar, and I was pretty certain that we wouldn't be seeing much of them tonight.

The table was a lot quieter than you would think, mostly because it was across the room from the DJ stand and speakers. It was loud, but manageable. We weren't going to have to use hand signals or text messages to communicate tonight.

"I got another round coming." Hal said as we sat down.

"Wonderful." I said, taking a long pull of the beer. "You seeing any prospects, Les?"

"Nah." He said causally, shaking his head. "Do you wanna dance?"

"Sure."

We stood and headed towards the dance floor. The song that was playing had a nice beat, but wasn't all crazy and techno. Les pulled me close to him, wrapping his arms around me. Les is an amazing dancer. Turning around I pressed my back to his front, rocking my hips against him and reaching up to put an arm around his neck. His hands grasped at my hips gently, pulling and swaying with the music. We danced through three songs, before the DJ announced a "couples only" song. I pulled away from him to go back to the table, when he grabbed my wrist.

"Not yet." He whispered into my ear, causing a ripple of excitement to flash through my body. He wrapped his arm around my waist and gently pulled my hand into his. His thumb made small circles on the small of my back as we danced. I loved the way it felt to be in his arms. When the feeling intensified and I started to feel my resolve began to slip I quickly pulled away.

"What's the matter?" Les said into my ear.

"I have to use the bathroom." I stuttered, then turned and almost ran to the ladies room. I stood over the sink, my hands braced on either side staring at the drain.

"Damnit." I whispered. "Get yourself together."

I wished that I could just give in and try to be with someone again, but I knew that he wasn't going to work. Ever since I began working at Rangeman I have felt comfortable, and I have been able to relax around the guys. They have let me flirt, and kiss and hug without pushing for anything further. They've always given me that space, and given me complete control over anything that I have done. Now, I was dancing with Les wishing that I could do more. I looked up at my reflection and scowled.

"You stupid idiot." I shook my head. "You know that you'll just fuck it up. Take a deep breath, go back out there and stay away from him for a while." I cracked my neck, taking a deep breath and focusing on gaining control of my hormones. I knew that I couldn't stay in here all night. The fact that I was in the ladies room would never stop the guys from coming in and checking on me. I loved that about them. I had NEVER felt as comfortable with this many men in my life. Another deep breath, and a quick mental slap and I was ready to walk out the door.

I didn't go back to the table; instead I walked up to the bar and stood next to the first guy that was alone. I ordered two triple shots of tequila, slamming them down quickly.

"Hey." I said to him, leaning seductively against the bar. He turned to look at me. He was tall, maybe 6'3" with red hair that just curled up at the nape of his neck and ears. He was broad and muscular, but not as big as a Rangeman. He smiled; his hazel eyes running up and down my body making me feel incredibly self-conscious.

"Well, hello." He copied my stance and leaned towards me against the bar. "You come here a lot?"

"A few times." I stuck out my hand. "Gabi."

"Neil." He said taking my hand. Instead of shaking it, he brought it up to his lips and kissed it running his tongue over my knuckle seductively. "Dance?"

"Sure."

He led me to the dance floor. I glanced over at the table, where Hal, Junior and Les were sitting watching me. Les was shaking his head and tapping his fingers on his beer. I turned my attention back to Neil, who wrapped one arm around my waist and the other under my arm so that his hand was splayed against my back. He pulled me tightly to him and begins grinding mercifully against me. By the third song, I was feeling the tequila. My arms and legs were feeling heavy and my head was swimming with all the lights and loud music. I put my forehead down against his shoulder for a moment. Leaning his head down he spoke into my ear, louder than necessarily because of how close he was.

"You are one sexy woman." He growled, causing shivers down my body but for a totally different reason. "We should just skip this whole charade and head back to my place."

"Umm...while that sounds nice, I came with a bunch of friends from work. It would be rude for me to leave without them." I knew that was a total lie. Usually the only one left was the DD at the end of the night, but Neil definitely didn't need to know that.

"Well, we can go out to my car?" He ran his tongue from behind my ear to the crook of my neck. "Or if you want we can just do it right here." He grabbed my ass and squeezed, while grinding his obvious erection into my pelvis.

I froze, anger and embarrassment coursed through me. As I was about to give him a piece of my mind a hand came hard down on Neil's shoulder.

"What the..." Neil began.

"I would suggest that you take your hands off her ass before I show you exactly what** I** can do on the dance floor." Les spat out. Neil looked from Les to me and then back to Les.

"Not a problem man. Just keeping her warm for you." Neil quickly slipped his arms out from around me and scampered off into the crowd.

"You okay, Gorgeous?" Les asked, putting an arm around my waist and helping me back to the table.

"Yesh." I said, my words slurring. "I think that I might be a little drunk." I staggered again, grabbing onto Les' waist to steady myself. He helped me down into the chair and I sat, staring at Hal and Junior who were watching me intently.

"Where's your prospect?" I asked Junior, trying to keep the slurring to a minimum.

"Damn you are drunk." Junior laughed. "What did you drink since we got here?"

"Tequila." I smiled, leaning my elbow on the table and my chin on my hand. "I like tequila."

Hal and Junior just laughed, shaking their heads. I jumped when Cal came up from behind my chair and leaned his hands on the table next to me. I looked up at him and smiled cheekily.

"Hey, Cal." I reached up and ran my fingers over his tattoo. "I like this. It's cute. You know, I have a couple, too. Wanna see?" I began to stand to show him where my tat ended when he placed his hand on my shoulder and looked at the guys.

"What the hell did she drink?" He asked, as I swatted away his hand.

"Tequila." They said together.

"Nice." Cal kneeled down in front of me. "Gabi."

"Yes, Cal." I said, shaking my head to stop the double vision that was sneaking up on me. I grabbed either side of his face to stop it. "Stay still."

"Shit, Gabi. You are wasted." He laughed. "Maybe I will ask you tomorrow to show me your tattoo, okay?"

"Okay." I said, leaning forward so that we were almost touching noses. "But I will give you a hint."

"What's that, Love?" He laughed again, a huge shit-eating grin on his face.

"It goes ALL the way up, and there is a surprise at the end." I winked at him and kissed him on the head.

"Okay, Gorgeous. I think that I am going to take you home." Les said, pulling me up onto my feet. "Hal, we are just going to catch a cab."

"Alright." Hal laughed. "See you tomorrow. Goodnight, Gabi."

"Good night, Hal." I finger waved. "Good night Junior. Good night Cal. Good luck getting laid, don't get any diseases."

"Goodnight, Gabi." They said together.

Les laughed as he led me out of the club, a hand gently at the small of my back. A cab stopped seconds after we walked out of the club and Les helped me in before crawling in behind me. He gave the driver the address for Rangeman.

"That's not where my apartment is, Les." I told him, leaning my head back against the seat.

"I know. You are going to stay with me tonight." He smiled at me.

"Les, I can't' have sex with you." I said seriously. Les just looked at me. "Well, I want to, but I can't. I am broke."

"Gabi, I highly doubt that you are broke. I don't think that it can break." He laughed out loud. "But I am not going to do anything to you….unless you want me to." He added, kissing the top of my head.

"That's not the problem." I felt so confused. "I told you. I want to. I can't."

"Okay, Gabi." He stroked my hair gently. "Just close your eyes, we will be there in a few minutes."

"Okay." I whispered as I closed my eyes and darkness enveloped me.

***AUTHOR'S NOTE:

Okay, I understand that this is throwing a whole new rock into this thing. But she is the main reason why I started this story. This is a really long chapter...Sorry…I just didn't feel right putting it into another chapter. Please let me know what you think. I promise you that I will update as soon as I can. Gabi, obviously, is having some issues. I will get to that.

Oh, and before y'all get upset about her not having this scene with Tank there is good reason and I will get to that later. Please Read and Review.

Happy Reading.


	13. Chapter 12

****I OWN NOTHING…IT'S ALL JE'S. I JUST LIKE TO PLAY WITH THEM.***

GABI POV

I woke up with my tongue sticking to the roof of my mouth and my head pounding like a high school marching band was doing a full lineup in my skull. I groaned, rolling over and smothering my face with the pillow. I stopped suddenly, lifting my head off the pillow and staring at it. It wasn't the crisp white eyelet sheets that I had on my bed. These were a soft blue with a thread count higher than my rent.

"Shit." I whispered, finally looking around the room. I was in Les' bedroom, and more importantly in his bed. Fortunately, I was alone in the bed, and was still wearing the essentials; panties and a t-shirt. 'Oh, fuck.' I thought as I stared down at the green t-shirt I was wearing. The words across it swam in my vision; 'ASK ME ABOUT MY WEINER.' I slowly slipped off the bed and stood, stretching.

"Morning, Gorgeous." Les sang as he walked into the bedroom carrying a cup of coffee. He was wearing a pair of dark green basketball, shorts tank top, and sneakers. Thrusting the coffee cup towards me, he smiled. "Thought you could use a little pick me up."

"Thanks." I muttered, pulling at the hem of Les' green t-shirt before taking the coffee from him. He watched carefully as I sipped it. I felt my face warm as the blush spread across it. "This is really awkward, Les."

"There is nothing to feel awkward about." He shook his head. "Nothing happened. You were passed out, I carried you here, put you in my t-shirt and you stayed there all night. I slept in the spare room." He pointed out the bedroom door. "I wanted to sleep here, but thought you would wake up and kick my ass if I did."

"You took off my clothes?" I asked, closing my eyes.

"Yeah." His flirty growl was back. "Oh, and by the way…I didn't follow your tattoo to the surprise at the end."

My eyes flew open as the memory of exactly what I had said last night crashed into my head. "Oh, fuck me." I groaned, putting my coffee on the bed-side table and flopping down on the bed. "I was such an idiot last night."

"You were…. interesting." Les laughed, sitting down next to me. I sat back up, letting my feet dangle off the bed and glared at him. He wrapped his arm across my shoulder and kissed the top of my head. "Cal was pretty excited that you offered to show him where your tattoo ended."

"OH, FUCK ME!" I groaned loudly slumping over and putting my face against my bare knees. I was so embarrassed I could die. I was never the one to get trashed when we would go out. I always stuck to a couple of beers, but never shots (except for the sambuca) and definitely not tequila. "Les, can I just go drown myself in your bathtub? I don't feel like facing the world today. Just promise me that you will dump my body somewhere no one will ever find me, okay?"

"Shit, Gabi. It's not that bad." Les chuckled, pulling back my shoulders so that I was sitting up-right again. I looked into his eyes and felt my bottom lip start to quiver. I sniffed, shaking my head slightly to clear it and then began to stand.

"Can I borrow your shower?" I asked, no longer bothering at covering up my panty-clad ass. "And I will probably need to borrow something to wear."

"Go for it, Gorgeous." He stood, walking towards his closet. He pulled out a pair of draw-tie shorts, and a clean white t-shirt and handed them to me. "Your clothes are right over there." He pointed to a chair next to the door. "I will wait out here for you." With that he walked out the door.

My shower was quick, but efficient. I towel dried my hair as much as I could before brushing it back. The shorts were big, but I could tighten the waist enough to where they wouldn't fall off, and the shirt was soft and thick enough that my bra didn't show through. Grabbing my now empty coffee cup, I stepped out of the bedroom and saw Les leaning up against the dining room table drinking coffee and flipping through some mail.

"Feeling better?" He asked, smiling as he saw me walk towards him.

"Yeah." I set the cup down on the table and stood in front of him. "I wanted to thank you for everything last night. I'm sorry that I cut your night short, and that I was such an ass."

"It was nothing." He shrugged, tossing the mail back on the table and setting his cup next to mine. "How about you and I head out for some breakfast. It's still early. Then we can get back and bring Steph to that appointment to get her x-rays. I called Ranger this morning and let him know. He wants us to come with, just in case Joe shows up."

"Sure, but can we stop by my place real quick so I can change." I pulled at the t-shirt. "While this is incredibly fashionable, I would really like to put on some panties."

Les closed his eyes and groaned. "Shit, Gorgeous. You can't be telling me stuff like that. I am only human."

"Sorry." I blushed.

"Let's go." Les gave me his crooked smile, only showing one of his dimples.

STEPH POV

I woke up the next morning in Ranger's bed, my own personal piece of heaven. I rolled over and snuggled into his pillows, smelling his scent that lingered there. Last night, Ella had brought up Bruce when dinner came. We ate, snuggled on the sofa until Bruce fell asleep and then curled back into bed. Stretching my arms over my head, I listened to see if there was anyone in the apartment with me. I could hear Bruce's soft rhythmic breathing as he lay asleep in the portable crib positioned at the end of the bed. Ranger had pulled it in here last night, wanting him to be close just in case. I smiled, remembering how gently Ranger held him as he rocked him to sleep. Sighing softly, I crawled off the bed, my muscles aching and burning from the Joe's beating. I did my business in the bathroom and brushed and washed my face before emerging from the bedroom.

Ranger was sitting at the dining room table drinking coffee and staring off into space. Even when he was doing nothing at all, he looked like he had a plan for every second of it.

"Good morning." I said, as I sat down next to him. Noticing how gingerly I sat, he put down his coffee and grabbed my hand.

"Babe, you doing any better this morning?" His dark brown eyes searched my face for signs of distress.

"I've had worse." I smiled weakly, hating that I was still a broken woman.

"Coffee?"

"Sure." I replied, and watch him stand. "Thanks." I watched as he walked over to the coffee maker on the counter of the kitchen, and add copious amounts of cream and sugar. I smiled at that, knowing that he hates all of the junk that I put into my body. He set the cup in front of my as he sat back down and sipped his coffee.

"You have an appointment this afternoon for x-rays and a follow-up with Dr. Augden." His eyes softened and he smiled. "Then I was thinking that we could go shopping."

"Shopping?" I asked, a smiled tipping my lips as well.

"Yeah." He chuckled. "I know that you would prefer to get all the things for the nursery and your things. Plus, I don't want to make sure that we don't miss anything."

"Oh, Ranger." I felt my eyes sting with tears of appreciation. "I can't believe that I am here with you. That you accept Bruce and I here." I waved my hand, acknowledging the apartment. "That you are so calm about everything. That you are so forgiving of my stupidity."

"Stephanie." He grabbed my hands in his. "Number one, I have been in love with you almost since the moment you walked into that diner. I can't imagine living my life without having you by my side. Even if that meant only as friends and co-workers. Number two; you have given me the greatest gift in the world. A son. I am grateful that you are letting me be a part of his life. Lastly, I am far from calm about…everything. I am pissed off that Morelli had the audacity to put his hands on you, to threaten and blackmail you with violence against my family. I am angry that I had to leave you, and that you went through this alone. I can't say that I agree with your actions, but I also can't blame you. I would do anything in this world, no matter how much it killed me, to ensure your safety." He leaned in and kissed me gently on the lips. "You are my everything, Babe. There is nowhere else in the world that I would rather be, and no one else that I would rather be here with."

"Oh, Ranger." I released my hands from his gently grip and wrapped them around his neck pulling him in for a passionate kiss. Tears streamed down my face, but for once in a long while they were happy tears. The kiss deepened, as he pulled me from my chair onto his lap. Our tongues danced together, causing heat to pool deep within my belly. I reached up running my fingers through his silky hair. A deep growl echoed through his chest as he clutched me tighter to him, his hands roaming down my back and settling on my hips. I shifted my position so that I was straddling him, wrapping my legs around the back of the chair. Our kiss broke as he trailed searing hot kisses down my neck and collar bone.

"Dios, Babe." His breath a deep purr against my skin. "You make me lose control." I froze as his hands slid from my hips to my inner thighs. Flashes of Joe looming over me, scowling and spitting horrid words. I unconsciously stiffened and pushed back against Ranger's chest. "Babe? What's wrong?" His voice was filled with concern. "Did I hurt you?"

"I…I…can't." I unwound myself from his arms, which fell defeated against his sides, and stood taking a step away from him. "It's too soon." My hands covered my face which was wet from tears I didn't know I had shed. "Damnit." I whispered. "I'm sorry, Ranger. I…"

"Steph, it's okay." He reassured me, taking a careful step forward. I could tell he was gauging my reaction to see whether or not I was comfortable. Feeling terribly guilty and embarrassed, I launched myself at him, burying my head in his chest and sobbing. "Querida," He whispered, stroking my hair softly. "It's okay. I understand. I'm sorry. "

"I hate him." I growled into his chest, which caused Ranger to tighten his grip around me. "I hate what he did to me, and what he made me into." I pulled back and looked into his eyes, hating the pain and anger that I caused.

"We are going to take it slow, Stephanie." His voice soft. "I have no plans on going anywhere. Why don't you hop in the shower and get ready. Your appointment is in a couple hours and I bet that Bruce will be up soon." I nodded, kissing him gently on the lips. He wrapped his arm around my waist and walked me into the bedroom. "I will be here." He said pointing to the bed, while he guided me towards the bathroom. "Just in case Bruce wakes up."

Ranger POV

I watched as my Babe closed the bathroom door to shower before I turned to watch my son sleep. 'My son.' I thought smiling. 'The woman I love more than life itself gave me a son.' My heart swelled as I watched him suck his lip in and out of his mouth in his sleep. I smiled as I noticed that he slept just like Steph did, arms and legs spread across the entire mattress of the small portable crib.

"Bruce." I whispered, leaning down over him. "Mommy is going to need you and me to be really supportive of her. I know that she wasn't too happy before, but Daddy will make sure that she is never unhappy again." Bruce shifted slightly, pulling his hands towards his face and sticking his thumb in his mouth, and his other hand to rub his ear. I shook my head as he sucked away at his thumb and rubbed his ear. I absently rubbed the thumb on my left hand, and chuckled softly. "I hope that you don't think I am going to let you suck your thumb as long as I did." I smiled. I had a small permanent callus on my thumb from sucking it until I was six. "Trust me; there isn't anything tough about explaining this..." I said raising my thumb to him.


	14. Chapter 13

***NOT MINE, BUT I WISH THEY WERE. JANET EVANOVICH IS THE HERO HERE, NOT ME.***

Gabi POV

"Coffee." I croaked to the waitress. "Lots of cream and sugar." Les and I slumped into the café booth. We had stopped quickly off at my place so I could change. I enjoyed wearing Les' clothes, but my Rangeman black uniform (black cargoes, black CAT boots, Black Rangeman T-shirt and full utility belt) just seemed to make me feel safe.

"Coffee and a coke." Les said, as the waitress nodded and walked away coming back minutes later with our drinks. I fixed my coffee with three sugars and three creams. "Why do you even bother ordering coffee if it's mostly sugar and cream?" Les laughed, taking a sip of his black coffee.

"I like coffee." I wrinkled my nose as I took a sip of the coffee. It was bitter. I grabbed the salt shaker and tipped it into the coffee, stirred and took another sip. This time it was perfect.

"You are one weird chick, you know that?" Les had one eyebrow arched and a smile on his face.

"What?" I shook my head. "Salt takes away the bitterness."

"Anything you say, Gorgeous." He reached across the table and ruffled my hair. "So, you gonna tell me what was up with you last night?" He sipped his coffee again.

"Les, it's nothing really." I began studying the menu. I knew what I wanted, because we always got the same thing every time we came to this café. "It's really not a big deal."

"Gabi, you are a stunning woman who hasn't gotten laid in YEARS. That is a pretty big deal." He reached over and grabbed the menu from my hands. "You aren't a virgin, so you can't use the whole religious excuse. Now, what is really going on?"

"Why does it bother you, Les?" I asked, swatting his hand and grabbing the menu back. "My lack of a sex life doesn't affect you at all."

"It could." He growled as he took a long drink from his coffee.

"What can I get y'all?" The waitress asked her pen and pad primed in her hand.

"Two eggs; over medium. Whole wheat toast, dry. A bowl of fruit and a banana." I rattled off, handing her the menu.

"I want the #4. Eggs Over medium, Sourdough toast, bacon and sausage. I want the hash brown casserole instead of breakfast fries, and an order of French toast." Les handed her the menu, his eyes never leaving their gaze directed towards me. The waitress nodded and walked away. "You told me last night that you were broken."

"Shit. Les, I don't know if I can talk about this." I put my face in my hands. "It is just going to make all of you guys worry about me for no reason. Just trust me when I say that I am fine."

"Four years." He took my hands away from my face. "What happened that you haven't let a man in your bed for FOUR years?"

I took a deep breath and stared into Les' eyes. They were soft and filled with concern. "You have to promise me that you will NOT tell any of the guys. I can't let them know, if they do I swear to God that I will quit Rangeman and move far far away. Are we understood?"

"Gorgeous." He shook his head. "I swear on my mother's grave that it will not leave my lips." I knew that if Les swore on his mother that he was serious. His mother had passed away when he was 13; she had been mugged, raped and beaten. It was an unwritten rule to never bring up 'your momma' jokes around him, because he was known to snap and attack someone for insulting his momma.

"Okay." Another deep breath and I began. "I was in my junior year in college. I was dating this guy for about six months, before he asked me to join him at his frat's formal. I was excited because it was the first formal that I had ever been to. My girlfriend, Clara, and I had spent weeks preparing for it. I had dress, the shoes…well, everything. It was going to be at the Chatanoogan Hotel, with an after party back at the Frat's house."

"You dated a frat boy?" Les asked a smiled picking up the corner of his mouth. I rolled my eyes and nodded.

"The formal was amazing. Great food, beautiful venue and I looked great." I smiled remembering how beautiful the floor length gown made me feel. "We had gone in with a couple of his frat brothers and got a huge stretch Hummer. After the formal we all piled in and hit a bunch of the bars surrounding the campus. By the time that we had made it back to the frat house, everyone was absolutely trashed. I didn't live on campus, so it was decided earlier that I was going to stay with Quinn that was my boyfriend. "I swallowed hard remembering that night. Les noticed how nervous I was and grabbed my hand. "I…"

"Here's your breakfast, dears." The waitress sang happily. "Enjoy. Let me know if there is anything that I can get for you."

"Let's eat, Les." I said, poking my eggs with my fork. "We can talk in the car."

"Okay, Gabi." He smiled, patting my hand and digging into his food. We ate in almost complete silence, Les watching me closely. When we were done, Les slapped a twenty on the table and grabbed my hand.

"I got it, Gorgeous. Let's get out of here." He drug me through the café and into the car. "We don't have anywhere to be for a couple of hours, let's go down to the park and talk." I nodded and watched as we passed through the streets of Trenton to the park. Pulling into a parking spot, we got out and began walked towards the hiking trail.

"It's a great day." I said casually looking up into the trees. The sun was peeking through the leaves, casting sunlit shadows onto the path. Les reached over and grabbed my hand, squeezing it gently. "Guess this means that I have to continue, huh?"

"Yep." He said, smiling.

"Okay. So, we were all really drunk and had staggered our way back into the frat house. The rest of the brothers had ordered a bunch of alcohol and were having an after-party of their own. Most of their dates were either passed out, had gone home, or were being entertained." I made parenthesis with my open hand, hoping that Les understood the type of entertainment. "Well, I was really tired, so I told Quinn that I was just going to go up to his room and crash. His roommate usually stayed at his girlfriend's house, since she had her own apartment and they wouldn't be interrupted by loud obnoxious drunks. I went up to bed, and changed into some pjs and went to sleep. The party was dying down, or at least was quiet enough for me to sleep in my drunken state so it didn't take long for me to be out." I stopped talking as a couple of mothers passed us pushing babies in strollers. I stared after them, a twang of jealously stinging my heart.

"Let's sit down a minute." Les said, wrapping an arm around me and guiding me to a bench just off the path. As I sat down next to him, he curled me into his chest with an arm wrapped around my shoulder and held my hands in his.

"I woke up to one of the brothers pulling off my shorts and panties." I sniffed back tears, and felt Les stiffen. "I can't tell you exactly what happened, except for that almost the entire house had a go at me, multiple times. They had beaten me; raped and sodomized…I was barely alive when they dumped me in the center of the quad the next night. I spent four months in the hospital, and another ten learning how to walk and just learn to live on my own."

"Gabi." He wrapped his arms around me, pressing my face into his chest. "Please tell me they were punished." I could feel his jaw clenching

"I can't." I growled. He pulled me back to look into my eyes. "There was no DNA evidence to support it. They destroyed every drop with ammonia. They poured it all over my body, and…and into me. Quinn was the only one to get punished, because they saw him dump the body in the quad. He still only got a slap on the wrist and was kicked out of school. His daddy has money, and bribed the judge to dismiss any of the other charges because there wasn't any evidence. Although, the school shut down the frat."

Les' eyes turned black and his fists clenched at my sides. "I'll kill them." He growled. I shook my head and put his head in my hands.

"Les, there isn't anything you can do about it. It's done. I have tried to accept my fate and make my life as fulfilling as I can without including that aspect of it." Les leaned his head down, our foreheads touching. "I can never have children, the ammonia made sure of that. The scarring is pretty extensive, but I have had a lot of reconstructive surgeries. The doctors have told me that a sex life is possible, but I have been too afraid to try anything. I got the tattoos to cover up some of the deep scars, the rest I have used laser treatments to lessen them. "I wrapped my arms around his chest and hugged him.

"Gabi, I am glad that you told me." Les tilted my face up to him, his bright green eyes glistening. "I want you to know that you mean a lot to me and I am here for you. No matter what it is, I am here."

"Thanks, Les." I felt a tear slide down my cheek. Les wiped the tear with is thumb, and leaned down kissing me gently on the lips. "Les, I can't do this. It's…it's too much."

"Do what? This?"" He asked, kissing me gently on the lips again. He grabbed my face gently with both hands. "Or this?" His mouth crashed down on mine, sending a surge of heat to my core. He ran his tongue across my bottom lip asking permission which sent my body into a frenzy. I let him into my mouth, melting against the feeling of his tongue against my own. I moaned softly, pulling his tightly to my chest. He responded by lifting me up onto his lap and twisting one hand in my hair while the other brought my body close to his. I could feel his heart pounding in his chest, and the reaction to our kiss in his cargoes. He tightened his grip making my stomach knot, and I felt dizzy. I quickly pushed away from him, bracing the distance between us with my hands planted firmly on his chest.

"Les." My voice was thick with fear and passion. "I can't. I just can't."

"Okay, Gorgeous." He whispered, dropping his hands to the bench seat. "I'm sorry I pushed you. I just…I have..." I dropped my hands from his chest, and sat perched at the edge of his lap. Raking his hands through his hair, and then over his face he groaned. "I'm absolutely crazy about you, and…and I want you to know that I really want to try this." He motioned his hand between the two of us. "You and me. Together."

"Les, I can't offer you a lot of things that I know that you need." I could feel myself blushing. "You are one of my best friends. I know you too well to know that you wouldn't be able to handle a celibate relationship."

"Damn." He shook his head."Am I really that much of a womanizer?"

"Honestly, yes." I smiled, tapping him on his nose. "You ooze sex appeal. Drop dead gorgeous, great body, beautiful smile, funny and overall a great package. Any woman would gladly give you her bed, even for the one night."

"Except for you?" He wasn't smiling. I pushed off his lap, and stood. He followed, and stood up quickly next to me. "Have you even tried recently? Is it physically impossible, or are you still trying to overcome the trauma?"

"Yes. I have tried." I glared at him. I could see his mind working overtime trying to figure out who I would have recently tried with. "It's gotten better. Before I came here and met all of you guys I couldn't even be in the same room with a man. Now, I can do a lot of things; kiss, make out, even some petting, but when it comes down to it…I don't know…I guess that I have flashbacks and I freak out. But even the one time that the guy worked through my anxiety attack, it hurt and I made him stop."

"Who was it?" Les' face was desperately trying to maintain that trademark Rangeman blank face, but his eyes were filled with jealousy. I crossed my arms over my chest defensively.

"Les..."

"Please, Gabi. I want to know." He grabbed my hand, pulling it from its place across my chest. "I need to know."

"Tank." I whispered, lowering my head. His grip tightened on my hand. "It was when you and a couple guys had to go to Miami to transport that FTA. I had a really rough takedown, and Steph had called to bring her to the ER. I went to Shorty's and took advantage of their dollar drafts. Shorty called Tank when I started a fight with one of the tourists. It just happened…well, didn't really happen…but what did happen just happened."

"So, he took advantage of you when you were drunk." Les nodded his head, his fists clenching.

"No." I yelled. "He didn't. He brought me home, patched me up and I threw myself at him. I was so desperate for…I don't even know…anything. To be held, loved, kissed, wanted…when I freaked out, he talked me down and made me tell him what was going on. He wasn't in the right frame of mind. He is still hung up on Lula, and didn't feel right about the whole thing. It was an embarrassing mess, but he and I have talked about it and its fine." I was rambling, trying to tell him without him really hearing.

"Gabi…" Les said with obvious hurt in his voice. "Why didn't you come to me sooner? I could have helped you. I would do anything for you. You're my partner, and my best friend." He put his hands on my shoulders, and looked into my eyes. "I would never hurt you, you know that…right?"

"I was afraid." I swallowed tears that were threatening to fall. "I didn't want to disappoint you by offering you something that I couldn't give. Or be able to actually be able to do it, and then find out that you weren't interested in anything but that."

He nodded and dropped his hands. "I guess that I understand that. I have been kind of a man-whore."

"Les…I don't think less of you. You have made your choices, and I can't hold that against you. I just also know that you have a hell of a lot more experience than me, and I am pretty sure that your expectations far exceed what I can do, which at this point is absolutely nothing. That means that even with nothing as the actual expectation, I would still manage to screw it up." Once again I was rambling, nervous that he was still listening.

"Gabi." He covered my mouth with his hand. "Stop." He was giggling softly.

"Hrmfph." I mumbled behind his hand.

"I am not asking you if I can fuck your brains out. I just wanted to be the one that you called. The one that you trusted to help you out." He shook his head as he took down his hand. "But if you want to know if I would fuck your brains out then the answer is hell yes. I would rather make slow love, but if that is what you need…then I am your man."

I slapped his chest. "Damnit Les. This is not a joke. I am fucking frigid. I will die without ever having a real orgasm…and you are making fun of me!" I was getting angry…overly dramatic...but angry none the less.

"What?" He grabbed my hands, which were waving dramatically around me. "What do you mean you will die without an orgasm?"

"God damn that Plum curse!" I screamed to the sky, raising my hands to cover my face. "Can't any of my damned inside voices stay...INSIDE!"

Les was full-out laughing and bending at the waist. I was pretty sure that if he didn't stop soon, he was going to wet himself. As I was about to yell at him, his phone rang.

"Santos." He gasped, struggling to compose himself and wiping tears from his eyes. "Yeah. We're on our way." He flipped the phone shut and looked at me. "We can finish this later. Now, we have to bring Steph to her appointment."

I nodded. Les took my hand and walked us back to the car, opening the door for me. "Les..." my voice was soft, and I wasn't sure exactly what I wanted to tell him.

"Gabi, thank you for letting me in. I know that it was hard to tell me this, and I appreciate it. I mean it when I said that you mean a lot to me. If you want, I can help you get the help you need to overcome this. You shouldn't have to live your life unfulfilled like this because of their actions." He kissed me on my forehead. "Why don't you and I take a weekend off and go to the house at Point Pleasant. I think that both us need a break."

"That sounds good." I sat down and buckled myself into the car, watching Les as he walked around the car and got in.

"Now, let's get Steph all fixed up so she can start living her life too." He smiled and roared down the street to Haywood.

Steph POV

Ranger and I were dressed and ready to go a few minutes before Les and Gabi arrived. I was nervous, remembering that the second that I walked into the hospital the gossip train would erupt. Ella was going to be keeping Bruce while we went to the doctor, just in case Joe decided to show up. Ranger and I had talked again this morning while Bruce and I were getting ready. We had an appointment with Ranger's lawyer to start not only a criminal case against Joe, but the divorce papers. This was going to be the Burg's biggest gossip since Joyce Barnhardt was caught in a threesome with two midgets and a dog last summer. Hopefully my mother stocked up her cabinet, because I am sure that she is going to set the world's tippling record this week.

"Penny for your thoughts, Babe?" Ranger whispered in my ear as he was rocking Bruce in his arms. We were sitting side by side on the sofa in the living room.

"Just hoping that my mom has enough booze and laundry to get her through this mess." I chuckled half-heartedly. He sighed, pulling me with his free hand closer to him.

"If not, I will send Hector over there with some tequila." He sighed, kissing me on the forehead. "Don't worry about the Burg, Babe. Let's just make sure that you and Bruce are good, and then we can go over and have a chat with your mom."

I smiled, gently running my finger down Bruce's cheek. He smiled, kicking his feet and cooing. "She hasn't seen Bruce since I left the hospital. Joe wouldn't let either of us out of the house very often." I looked into Ranger's eyes. They were soft and glowed with content.

"He is going to see the world now, Babe." Ranger smiled, picking Bruce up so that he was standing on wobbly legs on his lap. "You are going to get the best of the best, son." I smiled, and felt tears sting my eyes as I watched Ranger talk with Bruce. I had caught him whispering to him when I got out of the shower this morning, and loved the way that he admired his son.

I jumped slightly when there was a knock at the door. Without waiting for a response, Ella, Les and Gabi strolled in not stopping until they reached the sofa. Les reached down and plucked Bruce from Ranger's arms and kissed him on the cheeks.

"Hey, baby Batman. Did you miss your Uncle Les?" Les snuggled Bruce into his arms, and turned to us. "Are you guys ready to go?"

"Yes." Ranger stood, helping me up off the sofa and wrapping an arm supportively around my waist. "Ella is going to stay with Bruce. I won't risk him being out and about quite yet."

"Don't blame you, cuz." Les said, looking down at Bruce who was smiling up at him. Ella came up and took Bruce from his arms and snuggled him.

"Bruce and I will eat some breakfast and then play while you are gone." She cooed walking off into the kitchen with him.

We said our goodbyes to Ella and Bruce and headed down the elevator to the garage. When the doors swung open, Hector, Tank and Cal were standing there waiting for us.

"Hey Little Girl."

"Bomber."

"Bonita." Hector was the only one who "broke ranks" and strode up to me enveloping me in a hug.

"What are you guys doing down here?" Gabi asked. "Les and I are on watch."

"There is no way that we aren't going with." Cal said softly. "Where Bomber goes…" He pointed to the three of them. "We go."

"Thanks guys." I croaked out, my voice thick with unshed tears. "That means a lot to me."

"Anytime, Steph." Tank said, placing a thick hand on my shoulder. "You are family. We aren't going to let anything happen."

We piled into the Excursion, as it's the only vehicle that would fit all of us, and headed to St. Francis. We parked in the back and came in through the employee entrance. Butterflies were bombarding my insides, but I knew that I was safe. X-rays and blood were drawn discretely before I was escorted to a patient room near the exit of the hospital. Everyone but Ranger and Gabi waited outside the room as I stripped and put on a paper gown. I began to get nervous again as I sat up on the exam table.

"Mrs. Morelli." The doctor said as he walked in, causing me to grimace. "I am Dr. Cranton."

"Stephanie, or Steph." Ranger quipped, before I could say anything. "Her legal last name is just a technicality at this point."

"Okay, Stephanie." Dr. Cranton took everything in stride. "I checked your x-rays, but am still waiting on your blood work. I would like to do a physical exam quickly to make sure that you don't have any internal bleeding." I nodded as he reached behind me to lower the back of the exam table. "I would like to do a pelvic exam as well, if that is okay with you. I received the notes from your exam last night, but we would like to make sure that nothing progressed since then."

He gingerly checked the bruises that were covering my body, before checking the bite marks. I could feel Ranger tense as he pulled the paper gown down for better access.

"Stephanie." Dr. Cranton began. "The bruising is good, in that there doesn't seem to be any permanent damage, but the bite marks are more than likely going to have scarring. If you would like I can set you up with an appointment to see a plastic surgeon. He should be able to minimize or even completely remove any marking." I again nodded, feeling like a drinky bird. "If you could lie back, I will get the pelvic exam done. Please let me know if I am causing any pain. There will be some discomfort, but pain is not necessary."

"Okay." I laid back, closing my eyes. I felt Ranger stand next to me, and hold my hand in his while he stroked my hair.

"Everything seems to be good. Your IUD is still in place, so we don't have to worry about pregnancy or uterine tearing." Dr. Cranton had placed a tender hand on my knee. "You can sit up, and get dressed. I will be back in a few moments with your blood results."

I got dressed, pulling my clothes on quickly and without so much glancing at either Gabi or Ranger.

"You okay, Steph?" Gabi asked quietly as I sat back down on the table.

"Yeah. I think so." I knotted my hands together and stared at the tiles on the floor.

"Babe?" Ranger said, tipping my head back with a finger to my chin.

"I'm just embarrassed." I said, feeling tears welling up in my eyes again. "I just need to process all of this."

Gabi took my hand and kissed my forehead. "Steph, I understand what you are going through. We can get through this. You are strong, and you have a great group of people who love you and are here to help." I squeezed her hand and smiled. Gabi HAD been through hell. More hell than I could have ever thought that one person could survive. "If you would like I can set up an appointment to talk to my doc. She specializes in trauma counseling, and even if you don't think it's a good idea now…you can always have it there to use if you need it."

Ranger looked at Gabi, his eyebrow raised.

"Thanks, Gabi. I think that I might do that."

"We have a few appointments to go to today." Ranger said, "But when those are done, we can head down to Miami for some time off."

"That would be great." I smiled, picturing the three of us on the beach in Miami sounded amazing. Ranger smiled, and kissed me gently on the lips as the door opened again.

"All your blood work came back good." Dr. Cranton said. "You are a little anemic, but I have a script for some iron pills for you to take twice a day. I would recommend hot baths and Motrin for the tenderness, and come back and see me if the pain is too much or gets worse."

"Thanks." I said, taking the slip of paper from his hands.

"Take care of yourself Stephanie." He smiled and turned to Ranger. "If you need me to come to you for an appointment, just call my office. It was nice seeing you again, Mr. Manoso."

Gabi POV

Once we arrived back to Haywood, Steph and Ranger went back up to the seventh floor. I knew they had appointments with the lawyer and the DA to file criminal charges against Joe. Les and I got off on the fourth floor to get our assignments for the afternoon. Ram was sitting at my cubicle waiting for us.

"Hey." I called, smiling and doing a finger wave. "What's the word?"

"You me, and pretty boy there." Ram pointed to Les. "Have a skip to chase, needs to come in today. Vinnie is all in a stink about it, and Connie asked Ranger if he could expedite their takedown." Ram was twirling a butterfly knife, and leaning back in my chair. "I've been waiting for y'all to get back so we can head out."

"Alright." I grabbed the back of my chair and slid Ram back a few inches before bending down in front of my desk to get my spare cell battery out of my drawer. As I did, I felt hands grab my ass. "Ram!" I growled spinning around. He was smiling, his hands woven together innocently in his lap. He quirked his eyebrow up at me and looked at me questioningly. "What did I tell you about your hands on my ass?"

He put his finger to his chin and pretended to be deep in thought. "To make sure that I always give a reach around and grope the promise land as well?" Les reached across and smacked him on the back of the head.

"Exactly." I smacked his shoulder playfully. "Now, get off your ass, and leave mine alone. We got shit to do."

We strode down to the garage, before filing into my car and head to the bond's office. Connie was sitting at her desk, a cup of coffee in one hand and a doughnut in the other.

"Morning." I said, plopping down into the visitor's chair in front of her desk. "Who are we going after?"

She put down her doughnut and grabbed a file off her desk, handing it to me before picking up her doughnut again. "Mack Drilsky. He was arrested for attempted murder, kidnapping and possession…as well as a bunch of weapons charges that are still pending." She looked Ram up and down before biting into her doughnut. "He's not the nicest guy in town, but you shouldn't have that much trouble with him. His current home and work address are correct, and I have his daily schedule in the file."

"Wonderful. Thanks, Connie." I flipped through the file. Connie was good at getting information that wasn't in our computer programs, even if they were the best out there. She had the Burg behind her, and had contacts that I only wish that I could have. "Are you still going to Atlantic City next weekend?"

"Yeah." She looked up at Ram. "Just me and Lula. If you want you are more than welcome to come with. We have a huge suite, and would love for you to come."

"I will have to see what my schedule is." I looked around, finally noticing that Lula wasn't there. "Where is Lula, by the way?"

"She is off picking up some of the lower-level skips. Since Steph left, Vinnie has to depend on her for quite a few skips. She's good though…when she doesn't shoot them." We all laughed at that. Lula was constantly eager to shoot a skip, no matter what the circumstance.

"Got any more coffee, Connie?" Les asked, grabbing the file from my hand.

"Yeah, I just put a fresh pot on a couple minutes ago." Connie said and watched as Les and Ram hurried back to the back room to get Connie's famous coffee. "Those two are hooked." She giggled.

"I think that it's the almond extract that you put in it, Connie. Makes the whole place smell divine." I said, taking a big whiff of the air. It did smell fantastic. "Hey when the guys come out, tell them I will be right back. I have to run next door to the book store. Mr. Jenkins was holding a book for me."

"Yeah, sure." Connie said, and went back to typing. I stepped out the door and headed towards the book store. Suddenly, I felt my feet leave the ground and my head was cracked against the brick wall. Bright white stars flashed in front of my eyes, and it took me a second to focus them.

"Where the fuck is she, you stupid bitch." Joe Morelli growled in my ear. He was holding me up by my throat; my feet dangling inches off the ground. "I will kill you right here if you don't bring her to me, now." I clawed at his fingers which were cutting off all of my air.

"Stop." I gasped, trying desperately to get enough air into my lungs.

"Not so tough are you, you little cunt." Joe smiled and dug his hands into the back of my jacket and tucking my guns into his pants. "How about you and I go for a little walk?" He grabbed both my hands in one of his and released my throat only to slam his cuffs onto my wrists, twisting them behind my back. He flipped me over his shoulder and carried me around the book store to the alley where his truck was parked. Taking my handcuffs out from my utility belt, he connected the cuffs I was wearing to brush guard attached to the front of his truck.

"Now…tell me where she is." Joe stepped up to me, his chest touching mine.

"Fuck off, Morellii." I spat, standing up on my tippy toes to get as much into his face as I could. "She isn't going back with you ever again. You are NEVER going to be able to even look at her, let alone put your hands on her."

Joe quickly grabbed me by my throat, arching my back against the brush guard. "She is mine. I am her husband; you can't keep her from me." His eyes were black as sin, and filled with crazy hate. His free hand roughly wound itself in my hair, as a sadistic smirk spread across his face. "Although, if you want to…you can take her place for a little while." The hand that was at my throat slowly started making its way down my chest, groping my breasts before grabbing me between the legs. "I know that you can take it." He whispered in my ear. "I know you like it rough. And I bet I can get a couple friends to come help if you'd like."

"Get your hands off of me you fuck-wad!" I screamed, tears prickling my eyes. This only seemed to motivate him as he began laughing and tugging at the buttons of my cargoes. I screamed as loud as I could before the hand that was wound in my hair clamped over my mouth. I kicked and yanked my restraints as he tried to detach me from my pants. Seeing he wasn't going to get anything without a fight he slammed his body against mine, crushing me into the truck. I could feel his 'excitement' in both his pants and his eyes.

"Give your boss a message." He said, grinding himself into me. "Give me my wife, and nothing will happen to you. He can keep that little bastard kid of hers. But if I don't have her back in my home by the end of tonight, you are NOT going to like what happens to you. I know how close you and Steph are, and I am pretty sure that she understands what is going to happen to you if she doesn't show up." I groaned painfully into his hand as he squeezed my breast hard. "Remember, tonight. Or it's not going to be pretty for you." He reached behind me and uncuffed one set of cuffs, detaching me from his bug-guard by still restraining my hands behind my back. I fell to my knees as he jumped into his truck and backed out of the alley and down the street. I stood there, tears starting down my cheeks, my wrists bleeding from the tight cuffs and my pants partially undone. Slowly, I pushed myself to my feet and headed towards the back alley entrance of the bond's office. I slammed into the door with my shoulder a few times before sliding down and sitting on the cement slab in front of the door. I knew that someone would have heard me, since the door was steel and echoed throughout the entire office.

I heard the door handle click and the door swing open, slamming into me and knocking me onto the ground. I groaned and just laid there waiting for help up.

"What the fuck!" I heard Ram yell. "LES! Get over here!" I felt hands at my shoulders, as he pulled me up to my feet. "What the hell happened, Gabi?" He asked, reaching into his pocket for his handcuff keys.

"Fucking Morelli." I growled as Les ran to my side.

"What the fuck!" Les whispered as his gaze slid down the length of my body. Once he noticed my unbuttoned pants he growled deep in his chest. The second that Ram unstuffed me Les picked me up and carried me back into the bond's office and laid me onto the sofa. "Did he touch you, Gorgeous? Did he..." Les whispered in my ear, running his hands over my arms and legs to see if there was any damage.

"No." I shook my head. "He was just trying to scare me." And it worked. I thought, pulling my hair from its pony tail and running my fingers through it. Joe had messed it up as he wound his hand through it. My scalp ached from where he had pulled. "He's one persistent bastard, isn't he?"

"Do you want me to call the cops?" Connie asked, peeking her head around Ram's shoulder, who was kneeling next to my feet by the sofa. All three of us looked at her.

"No." I said, closing my eyes. "But I could really use a cup of coffee." Connie nodded and hurried back to the back room.

"What happened?" Ram asked. I sighed and told them, shivering as I explained that I had until tonight to produce Steph.

"Yeah. Like he could get close to you to hurt you now." Les growled. "I could kill him in my sleep with my hands and legs tied together."

"But he didn't…you know…hurt you. Did he?" Ram asked gently, taking my hand in his.

"He only copped a good feel." I scoffed, rubbing the breast that he had squeezed. "Although, someone should teach the man how to touch a woman. I am pretty sure that I am going to have a hand-shaped bruise on my boob." I smiled, but unfortunately humor was not appreciated by either Les or Ram. "Come on guys, I am fine. I say we go pick up our skip, get some lunch and then head back to Rangeman so Tank can call TPD to report Joe's crazy-ass behavior."

"We are going to call Tank and have them send out Binkie and Cal to get this guy, and then we are going to head back to Rangman." Les said standing up and extending his hand for me to take. "Bobby is going to check you over, and then we are going to figure out what the hell we are going to do."

"Fine." I said, letting him pull me to my feet. "But I want ice cream."

"I suppose we can do that." Les said, chuckling.

"Oooh…" Ram smiled ear to ear, almost jumping up and down. "Can we stop at that frozen custard place? I am so craving a Reese's concrete."

"Ram." I clapped a hand on his shoulder. "That is a great idea."

***AUTHOR's NOTE***

Okay, so I understand that it has been a long time since my last update. RL can be such a pain in my butt. I have a HUGE paper due soon and have been trying to get a start on it…but I have a feeling that it's going to be an all-nighter the day before. Also, if anyone is on the reading list for my other *uncomplete* story…I am utterly stuck. I have the last few chapters done, but I am stuck on how to get there from where I am now. So, please be patient with that one.

Also, I have had a couple of requests to add to Sexless and Stircrazy…let me know your thoughts.

Lastly….thanks for all the reviews. You guys are AMAZING! Please keep up the reviews...they are like crack and keep me going through all the slow days.

Happy Reading.

R.A.


	15. Chapter 14

***THE CHARACTERS ARE NOT MINE…ALTHOUGH IF I COULD GET MY HANDS ON A FEW OF THEM, I'D HOGTIE THEM IN MY BASEMENT. ;) THEY ALL BELONG TO JANET EVANOVICH…ALL EXCEPT FOR GABI…SHE'S MINE.***

Les, Ram and I made our way to the SUV. As I wrenched open the door, Connie came running out with a travel mug with coffee.

"Gabi, I got your coffee!" She thrust the cup towards me, spilling coffee on the sidewalk and over her hand. "Damn that shit is hot!" She cursed and shook out her hand.

"Thanks, Connie." I took a sip of coffee, relaxing as I felt the hot coffee make its way through me. "You guys might want to be careful. Tell Vinnie to close up shop early. Watch out for Morelli."

"I am going to have Tank send over someone to keep an eye on you and Lula tonight." Ram said, tapping her gently on the nose. "Can't have anything happen to my coffee girl." I smiled as Connie blushed. She and Ram had been flirting for months now, but because of their hectic schedules dating hadn't quite come about.

"Let's Roll!" Les barked as he got into the driver's seat, while Ram took passenger. I was perfectly okay with this because in the back I could stretch out. As we were making it down the street Les pulled out his phone again and whispered low into the phone. After a few minutes, he clicked his phone shut and looked at me in the rear view mirror. "Tank is sending out Binkies and Zero. He wants us to pick up a Cookie Dough concrete for him." Les grinned at that. Not many people, outside of Range man, would think that Tank has such a sweet tooth.

"Is he pissed?" I asked, looking out the window as we approached the custard place.

"No." Les sighed, handing Ram some cash and giving him our order. Once Ram had closed the door and walked away from the SUV Les turned around to face me. "Gorgeous, are you sure that you are okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." I unbuckled and leaned forward and kissing him on the forehead. "He just shook me up a bit. I was more worried about Steph then what he was threatening to do to me."

"You do realize that this means that I have to kill him." His eyes were dark with fury as he reached back and put his hand to my cheek.

"Les, you don't have to kill anyone, especially not that piece of shit." I turned my face and kissed his palm. "You wouldn't want to go to jail for him would you?"

"Gabi, don't underestimate me." His tone told me that he wasn't joking. "If I wanted him to disappear, I could make even his mother forget about him." We sat staring into each other's eyes until Ram tapped on the window, arms filled with frozen custard.

We arrived at Rangeman with full bellies, and happy souls. Les was now chewing happily on the spoon, causing it to crack loudly as it snapped against his teeth. Tank had been pacing back and forth in front of the elevators, stopping only when we pulled into the garage. Les pulled into the parking space and hopped out, carrying Tank's cookie dough concrete.

"Hey Tank." Les said, holding out the concrete. "Got you some yumminess!"

Tank didn't even look at Les as he bolted towards me as I stepped out the SUV. He grabbed me up into his arms and hugged me within an inch of my life.

"Holy shit, Boss." I gasped. "I can't breathe." He set me gently down on my feet and grabbed my hands, flipping my wrists back and forth looking at the dried blood and bruises that mimicked the cuffs place."Really Tank. I'm fine."

"Cricket. This is not fine." He lifted my wrists, before looking at Les and Ram. "Report. And don't you fucking dare leave out a single detail."

Les and Ram tag-teamed the report, giving Tank EVERY detail including how they found me handcuffed with my pants undone. This caused a deep feral growl to radiate from Tank. I jumped at the sound, but couldn't go anywhere as he still held my hands.

"Go to Ranger and Report. I am taking Gabi to Brown." Tank grabbed the concrete from Les hand. "Thanks" He grumbled as he pulled us to the elevator.

"Tank, come one. It's not that bad." I plead, looking back at Les and Ram with a 'sorry guys' face. In the elevator, Tank pushed "4", pointed his FOB to scramble the cameras and handed me the concrete. "I already…" I began to say before he picked me up bridal style and pressed me to him tenderly.

"Jesus, Gabi." He sighed. "I thought…I thought that he..."

"Pierre." I whispered, touching his face with my free hand. No one EVER called Tank by his first name. He looked up at me, pain and anger radiating in his dark brown eyes. "I am fine. I promise you that he didn't get that far."

He kissed my forehead and looked down at the concrete. "Give me a bite, Cricket." He opened his mouth waiting, as I dug out a good spoonful. He moaned as he took his bite, closing his eyes. "God that shit is good."

The elevator door slid open and Tank carried me to Bobby's apartment, kicking the door with his giant boot. Bobby whipped open the door and froze at the sight of Tank and I.

"Everything okay, Tank?"Bobby stepped back as Tank rushed past him and sat down on his sofa with me on his lap. "Gabi, you okay?"

"Yeah, I am okay." I said as I spooned another bite of concrete into Tank's mouth. "Just calming the beast, if you know what I mean."

"Tank, that shit is gonna kill you." Bobby laughed.

"Shut up, Brown. I seem to remember that you have a terrible addiction to Doritos. Your cupboards are filled with that shit. I only eat this when I am really stressed." Tank smiled, and motioned for Bobby to come closer. "Check her out. Morelli decided to have a little chat with her."

Bobby growled deep in his chest as he knelt down in front of me. Tank took the concrete from me, and thrust my wrists towards him.

"Jeeze, Gabi." He gingerly flipped my wrists assessing the damage before standing and walking towards a cabinet next to the door where he kept his medical supplies and grabbed a duffel bag. "Tank, why don't you have her come sit here on the table and I will get her all checked out."

Tank set his concrete on the coffee table before getting up, and carrying me over to the dining room table, gently setting me down on the top. He put his hand on my thigh and looked into my eyes.

"Cricket, where else did he touch you?" His voice was soft and comforting. I sighed and felt the blush hit my face.

"Tank, it's embarrassing." My voice was whiney. This caused him to stiffen his back, and turn to look at Bobby who was gritting his teeth. I sighed again. "Guys, he copped some pretty rough feels, but didn't do anything…." Struggling to find the right word I mumbled. "Drastic."

"Gabrielle." Bobby's voice was stern, but not intimidating. "Show me."

I rolled my eyes again and sighed, grabbing the bottom of my shirt and lifting it over my head. "Here" I pointed to my left breast, and then to my throat and back. "And here."

"May I?" Bobby said, reaching for my bra. I nodded as he slowly pulled the cup away from my breast. "Fucker." He quietly spat as he reached up and gently pressed the bruises on my throat and breast checking for damage. I flinched as his cool fingers touched me.

Tank reached for his phone, flipping it open and pressing a button before growling out. "Find him."

"Guys, it's not that bad. You all have given me worse when we spar."

"This." Bobby said, pointing to my bruises. "Is different. We don't mean to hurt you. This is violating you. This is non-excusable." He reached into his bag and took out a salve and began applying it gently to my neck and the bruises on my back. "Do you trust me to get this one too?" He asked pointing to my breast. I nodded and closed my eyes as he gently undid the clasp of my bra and slid off the one cup. He massaged the salve into the bruised tender flesh of my breast. When he was done, he closed the salve and put it back into his bag. "You are going to be tender for a couple of days. And I want to check this one out again, to make sure that he didn't damage any tissue." He motioned with his eyes towards my breast, as I replaced my bra and grabbed my t-shirt.

"Tank I need to talk to you about what he told me." I said, pulling my shirt over my head and crossing my arms defensively across my chest. Tank raised one eyebrow and copied my gesture by crossing his own arms. "He said that if Ranger doesn't produce Steph to him by tonight, he is going to make me pay. He knows how close we are and is going to use it against her. He's lost his fucking mind."

He looked at me for a moment before saying, "You know there is no way in HELL we are letting you go over there."

"Tank, I wasn't planning on it. He kind of gave me the impression of what he had planned for me if I did, and it's not in the top million things I want to accomplish in my life." I unfolded my arms and rubbed my palms against my pants. "I was thinking about putting Steph, and the family in a safe house until we can get him into custody."

"We are already on it. Les is out looking right now." He rubbed the top of his head. "We have to talk to Ranger. This is involving his family, too."

I nodded and looked over at Bobby who was standing fists clenched tightly at his sides, his eyes black with fury. "Bobby." I spoke quietly as I jumped off the table and over to him, gently wrapping my arms around him. He stiffened slightly before wrapping his arms around me. "Thank you. I know that you will all keep us safe. Let's not blow our cool quite yet."

He cleared his throat. "Gabi, Joe is not going to survive this one. He hurt Steph, and he hurt you. That isn't something that I…that any of us...could just let slide."

"I know." I squeezed him tightly before stepping back. "Let's go talk to Ranger."

Ranger was sitting in his office when we arrived, hunched over a large stack of papers.

"Ranger, we need to talk." Tank said, pushing his way into the office and standing in front of the desk.

"What's up?" He quirked his eyebrow slightly at the sight of my bruises on my neck. "What happened?" He stood and walked around and tilted my chin as he inspected my bruises.

"Morelli." I said, embarrassed that everyone was making such a big deal about a couple of bruises.

Ranger turned to Tank. "Report." He barked his voice thick with tension. Before Tank could speak I told him everything that had happened.

"Do we have a location on him?" Ranger quipped, anger seething through every pore.

"Negative." Tank replied. "Les and Ram are looking as we speak. He has a lot of connections and is using them. It is going to take a bit to find him."

"Find him." Ranger walked back to his office and opened the top drawer of his desk pulling out his gun and holstering it. "Gabi, you are on lock down. Put men on all the VIPs including the Plums. We can be sure that this fucker is going to try anything. Steph and I have a meeting with the DA and our lawyer in an hour."

Tank nodded and grabbed my elbow, leading me out to the COMM room. "Head down to my apartment, Gabi." He whispered. "I will go by your apartment and get your things. I have a couple of calls to make. I will call you when we have our meeting."

I nodded and headed back to the apartment, Bobby on my heels. We rode the elevator in silence. Striding to Tank's apartment I turned to him. "You my tail, Brown?" I smiled, poking him in the side.

"Lovely, I am not letting you out my sight until I see Morelli's body in the morgue." He smiled back, playfully punching my chin with his fist. "I will be your bodyguard, and your entertainment."

"That's good to know." I pushed open Tank's door and headed straight for the kitchen. "I need a beer."

"Have one for me too." He joked, flopping down on the sofa and turning on the TV. "Want to watch a movie?"

"Sure." I called from the kitchen.

We spent the next four hours watching TV, playing Xbox and chatting. I hadn't heard from Tank or Les and was starting to get worried. Finally at 8pm, my phone chirped letting me know I had a text message.

"MEETING IN RM 3. **TANK"

"Let's rock, Bobby." I said standing up and stretching. "Meeting at 3."

Making our way to the 4th floor and into the conference room I noticed that the COMM floor was nearly empty. There were a few contractors on monitor duty, but it was pretty silent. The conference room was the largest at Rangeman, and was filled to the hilt with a sea of black. I found Les and made my way over to him. Ram started to get up from his seat, but I placed a hand on his shoulder and took my seat on Les lap.

"Hey Gorgeous." He kissed the back of my neck. "How you feeling?"

"Meh." I shrugged. "Bobby and I just spent the whole afternoon watching movies and killing zombies."

I felt Les chuckle more than I heard it. "Only you would be killing zombies at a time like this."

"What did you find out?" I asked, turning to face him. "Did you get him?"

He shook his head. "His is smoke. We can't find even a trace of him. The Burg protects their own, and are doing a good job keeping him from us."

"What about Uncle Frank?" I asked, pulling my hair from the pony tail and shaking it loose. Les reached up and started running his fingers through my waist long hair, undoing any knots.

"We set them up in a safe out in Newark. They seem to be okay. Your aunt is ironing, grandma is playing the Wii and your Uncle is enjoying the game room. It has a projection screen and all-access sports."

I smiled. "Good."

"Attention." Ranger's voice boomed out across the room. Everyone silenced immediately and sat (or stood) tightly in their spot. "As we are all aware, Joseph Morelli is our top priority. He is being hidden by the Burgers, but we need to sniff him out. He has threatened not only my Babe, but Gabi as well. We are on Red alert until we capture him. All team leaders were given their duties and will meet with their teams to relay individual orders. More than likely he isn't working alone. Find his friends, co-workers and family members and follow them. He needs to be found by the end of the night, otherwise he has threatened to take Gabi in Steph's stead. This is obviously not an option. Both are on lockdown until this is resolved." Ranger turned to me. "Is that going to be a problem?"

"No, sir." I said, sheepishly. "I don't mind a mini-vacation." Ranger's lips tipped into a smile.

"Good."He clapped his hands. "Report in with any information, and be safe."

"Hooah." They all roared in unison.

"Dismissed." Ranger flicked his hand and walked towards me as the men were filling out. Les and I were still in the same position. "Gabi. I'm sorry that I have to bench you like this."

I shrugged my shoulders. "It's okay. I could use a break anyways."

"Les, you have a two-bedroom?"

"Yeah. She can stay with me. Tank is going to be brining her stuff when he gets back." As Les spoke I finally noticed that Tank wasn't there.

"Where's Tank?"

"He's pulling some members from other branches into Trenton." Ranger offered. "Les, you are off rotation tonight. I will need Bobby to come with us." Les nodded and helped me to my feet before standing and jutting his hand out to Ranger. Ranger took it and shook it.

"Be safe man." Les said the seriousness of his voice and the look in his eyes made me shiver. "You got more reason than ever to come home tonight." Ranger nodded and walked out of the room.

"Let's head to my apartment and get some sleep." Les said as he led to me to the door. "I have a feeling that we might not get the chance to do so later."

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:

I want to once again thank all of you for your wonderful input and support. This story is about to kick up and get down to business…so if you are waiting for Joe to get his…then just wait. Steph isn't going to really be in the next chapters, but she is still going to be mentioned. As you can imagine, she is still recovering from her beating. Bruce is doing good too.


	16. Chapter 15

**NORMAL DISCLAIMER APPLIES. WISH THEY WERE MINE, OR AT LEAST REAL IN MY LIFE. GABI IS MY ONLY REAL CREATION HERE. **

I woke up to the bed sinking down next to me.

"Gabi." Les' voice cooed, gently stroking my back. "Time to get up, Gorgeous."

"Mmmmruph." I groaned, pulling the pillow up over my head.

"Come one. Cal brought you once of those green tea smoothies from that Italian café down the street." He pressed something extremely cold against my neck. I shrieked and sat up staring at Les.

"Damn you." I growled, pulling the smoothie from his hand and sucking it down before moaning loudly. God, that was good. "I love Cal." I whispered, peeking at Les' face. "He always knows what I like and what I need."

"Gorgeous, you don't even know what I could give you." Les' eyes smoldered, and I felt a surge of heat radiate throughout my nether regions.

"I have to get ready for work." I said, changing the subject quickly. I jumped out of bed and rummaged through the bag that Tank had packed me. "You have to be kidding me!" I moaned before crawling back over the bed, reaching across Les and grabbing my cell phone. He smacked me on the butt as I pulled my arm back. "Watch it Santos." I laughed.

Pressing speed dial 1 I waited for the other line to pick up.

"What's hopping, Cricket." Tank chuckled. He loved that line.

"What the fuck, Tank." I growled into the phone. "What the hell were you thinking when you picked up clothes for me? I am not a prostitute, and I actually do enjoy wearing UNDERWEAR!"

Tank just laughed. "I was hoping you'd be staying in my apartment, so you wouldn't even need clothes."

"Tank, you pig!" I rolled my eyes. "Is there any way that I could get some real clothes?"

"Yeah. I'm out on recon right now, so I can pick some stuff up and bring it to Les' room. I will be back at Haywood in about an hour...is that good?"

"Yeah. Thanks, Boss." I sighed and clicked my phone shut. Les was smiling. "It's not funny. I need underwear."

"Girls without panties is sexy." Les smirked.

"Girls who don't wear panties are usually dirty, nasty bitches." I shivered. That was my biggest pet peeve. "I am far from that."

"That's true." He got up and patted my butt. "How about you and I head down to the gym, since we have an hour before you get fresh panties."

"Alright, but stop thinking about my panties and their status." I poked at him. "Can I borrow a t-shirt and shorts?" He nodded and walked out of the bedroom coming back with a gray ARMY shirt and a pair of black ARMY PT shorts with an adjustable waist.

"Thanks." I said, heading to the bathroom to handle my morning business, and change. When I was done, I stepped out into the living room to see Les sitting on the sofa wearing blue basketball shorts and a white tank top.

"God damn!" Les exclaimed. "That's fucking hot. I love seeing you in my clothes."

I swatted my hand at him dramatically. "Awww…thanks, Les." I guffawed. "Let's rock."

The gym was almost empty when we got there. Les and I hopped on treadmills side by side and began a brisk run. Forty-five minutes and 6 miles later we hopped off and headed towards his apartment to wait for Tank. Les hopped in the shower the minute that we arrived to find that Tank hadn't been there yet. I headed towards the kitchen to grab a bottle of water. As I took a drink there was a knock at the door. I opened it to find Tank leaning up against the door jam with a large black duffel bag in hand.

"Got your panties, Cricket." Tank smiled. "Need some help getting them on?"

"Thanks, Boss." I said, grabbing the bag from his hand and padding over to the dining room table. I plopped the bag down and opened it, taking out its contents and spreading them on the table. I sighed in relief when I found at least 10 pair of my cotton hip hugger panties with matching bras. "Did you happen to grab everything in my apartment that said Victoria's Secret?" I giggled.

"I like that stuff." He smiled meekly, and blushed (I swear it!). "But there are quite a bit of other stuff in there too."

I smiled, put the clothes back into the duffel and wrapped my arms around Tank's waist. "You're the greatest." He lifted me up off the ground so I could wrap my arms around his neck as he pulled me close to him.

"Thanks, Cricket." He said, setting me back down on his feet and tapping my nose. "You go get ready. You have grunt work to get done."

"Yippee." I said sarcastically. "Can't wait."

"See you on 5." Tank called over his shoulder as he left. I grabbed the duffel bag and hauled it to the bedroom I was staying in and began pulling out all the clothes again. This time I sorted them, and began grabbing hangers from the closet. I was just finishing up hanging all the clothes up when Les knocked on the open door.

"Shower's open." He said, rubbing a hand over his wet hair and spraying water towards me.

"Thanks. I'm just going to finish putting this stuff away." I opened the top drawer of the guest dresser and turned to put my panties and bras in. Les was standing over the bed ogling them. "Les, please. They aren't even sexy panties."

"But I still respect them." He said solemnly. "Just look what their job is…covering that fine ass of yours." His smile quirked and he giggled.

"That's really corny, Les." I shook my head. "I'm hopping in the shower." I tossed all the panties, bras, socks and pajama sets into the drawers, grabbed the clothes I was going to wear and headed to the bathroom. My bathroom essentials were already there from last night, so I quickly showered and got dressed. I decided to put my hair into two French braids, before putting on a little makeup. I finished by getting "dressed", as the guys like to call it, with two 9 mil and my knife.

It was a little after 8 when we finally made it up to the COMM room, which once again was sparse with contract workers. Peachy. They were such a pain in my ass, literally. Just as I was about to sit down in my chair I heard Cal call my name.

"Hey, Gabi!" He walked over hiding something behind his back. "Got something for you." He sang as he wrapped his free hand around my waist and pulled me close to him. "How about a kiss and I will give it to you."

I pulled down his head and kissed his skull. "There." I pushed at his chest and put out my hands. "Now…gimmee!"

He pulled a stuffed puppy from behind his back with a card tucked between its paws. "Aww..how cute. Who's it from?"

"Not sure. We checked it out. There isn't any explosives or anything." He poked at it. "You must have a secret admirer. "

I pulled the card out from the puppy's paws to read it. I heard a faint click and music started playing.

'LITTLE RED RIDING HOOD, YOU SURE ARE LOOKING GOOD. YOU'RE EVERYTHING A BIG BAD WOLF COULD WANT. WOOOOOO.'

My heart started racing and the world felt like it was going in slow motion. I slowly opened the bi-fold card.

'See you soon. Kisses. Love Q'

The room started spinning and the music from the puppy became louder. I could barely breathe.

"Gabi?" Cal asked. "You okay?"

I was still holding the puppy in my arms when the music clicked off and a deep scratchy voice filled the space around me. I watched in slow motion as it hit the floor.

'Gabs, I know you didn't think I wouldn't find you. I know where you are and I will be seeing you very soon. Can't wait to see those tats of yours.' Quinn's voice shattered my psyche. I reached behind me and grabbed my gun, more out of instinct then will.

**CAL's POV**

I watched Gabi's face go from happy and joking to terrified to blind rage. We both jumped as the music stopped and a creepy voice filled the room.

"Who the fuck is that?" I asked. Her eyes were glazed over and almost in shock. I called back over my shoulder for Les and when I turned around she had her gun pulled. After emptying an entire clip into the puppy she stood stone still, clicking away with an empty gun.

"Gabi?" I asked, holding my hands out. "Honey, are you okay?" No response. I reached out and gently touched her shoulder. She jumped and turned the gun on me. "Shit. Gabi. It's me…Cal."

Les came screeching to a halt in front of us, followed by Tank, Hector and Ranger. I could hear the barreling of footsteps as the rest of Rangeman headed towards the COMM room.

"What the fuck is going on?" Ranger barked before focusing on Gabi. "Gabi put the gun down."

Suddenly the puppy began singing again. Gabi whipped around pulling out her second 9 mil and pointed it at the puppy.

"Stop!" She screamed, unloading another clip before Les got a hold of her and wrestled the gun out of her hand. She collapsed into his grip, falling to the floor sobbing.

"Jesus, Gabi. What's going on?" Les was frantic.

"Cal what the hell happened?" Tank yelled, crouching down in front of her. When he reached out to grab her hand she fainted dead away. "Les pick her up and bring her in my office. Cal get Bobby up here now. Hector, check out that fucking dog. See where it came from and what it played."

"What the hell is going on?" Ranger yelled again.

Les didn't answer, but picked Gabi up and carried her into Tank's office. I ran down the stairs to get Bobby. This wasn't good. Gabi was tough and knew how to handle stress. This wasn't stress; it looked more like PTSD or shock. My heart was pounding in my chest as I burst open Bobby's door.

"Get upstairs!" I yelled, startling Bobby. I turned back around, making sure that he was right behind me.

"What the fuck, Cal." He said, grabbing his black medical bag and following after me.

"It's Gabi. She freaked the fuck out. Unloaded both her guns into a fucking stuffed puppy then collapsed. I think that she's in shock, or something." I told him as we bolted up the steps two at a time. We made it to Tank's office just in time to hear Gabi screaming. Bobby bolted ahead of me, and burst through the door. Les, Tank and Ranger were standing hand in a surrendering position while Gabi was standing shakily with her knife pointed towards them. Her eyes were glassy and unseeing.

"Don't fucking touch me." She screamed, thrashing the knife in the air.

"Gabi?" Bobby took a step forward. "Do you know who I am?"

"Come near me again and I will cut off your fucking dick!" She screamed, waving the knife in his direction. "All of the brothers are the same...fucking bastards!"

"Hey!" Bobby said, quirking his eyebrow in disbelief. "Did she just say what I think she did?"

"No." Tank growled. "Brothers…like a frat. Shit, Gabi. This is bad. Maybe we need to get Steph." He looked over at Ranger who cursed turned and flipped open his phone.

"Babe." He said into his phone. "I need you to come down to Tank's office please. Right away." He clicked his phone closed and turned back to Gabi who was still frantically trying to escape.

Within minutes Steph was running into the office, slamming the doors against the wall causing the door knob to make a hole.

"Gabi!" She yelled, running towards her cousin. Ranger caught her around the waist before she could get too far. "Ranger, let me go."

"Babe, she has a knife. I want you to see if you can talk her down enough for us to sedate her."

"What happened?" She asked, her eyes not leaving Gabi.

"I think she's having a flash back or attack of some kind. She got a message from Q and freaked out." Tank responded, his eyes never leaving Gabi either. Ranger, Bobby and I whipped our heads around and stared at him. What the hell was he talking about?

"How the hell did he find out she was here?" Les growled, rubbing his hand through his hair. Gabi was frantic, her breathing erratic and her hand holding the knife was shaking as she waved it from one of us to the other unable to decide which of us was the bigger threat.

"Every body just back off." Steph said, pushing past Ranger. "Gabi?" She asked, putting her hands up slowly and walking closer towards her. Gabi shook her head and stared for a moment before responding. None of us moved.

"Steph?" her voice was scratchy and strangled. She whipped her eyes back towards us and tightening her stance. "Get out of here; they are going to hurt you if they catch you."

"If I can get you out of here and away from them will you give me the knife?" Steph was getting closer, but spoke softly over her shoulder to us. "You need to slowly back off, go towards Tank's desk away from the door so she doesn't feel like you are going to attack her." We slowly moved as she told us, our eyes never leaving the two of them. Gabi seemed to relax a bit as she turned, following our direction with the knife. When we stopped, she slowly twisted her wrist so that the handle of the blade was open for Steph to grab, which she did. "Let's go out this door right here, and to my apartment. You can see Bruce, do you remember my baby Bruce?" Her voice was soft and soothing.

"I would like that." Gabi said, her voice almost trance-like.

STEPH POV

I took Gabi's hand and slowly walked her to the door, allowing her to keep her eyes on the guys. I was the first to reach the door, and I saw (to my horror) that the COMM room was filled with the Rangemen staff.

"Gabi. I want you to stand right here. I have to grab my keys, don't move okay." I sighed in relief when she nodded. I ran out to the crowd that was gathered and hushed them. "Get out of here. If she sees any of you she is going to freak out. When the elevators close you all can come back out, but not a second sooner."

They all nodded quietly turned to smoke, disappearing into the nooks and crannies of the room. "Gabi, are you ready to go?" I said as I came back up to her. Her eyes were glassy, filled with tears and void of anything but terror. She shook her head slightly and turned to look at me, before nodding. "Okay, let's go."

The moment we reached the apartment, I lead her to Ranger and my bed and laid down with her, gently smoothing her hair as huge sobs wracked her body.

LES POV

"Holy shit." I gasped, staring at the elevator doors shortly after Gabi and Steph went up. "What do we do?" I turned to Tank who shrugged and put a heavy hand on my shoulder.

"Fuck if I know, Les."

"Can someone tell me what the fuck is going on?" Ranger said, storming out of my office and stood, hands on hips, staring at Les and I. "Why the hell do I have some crazed woman shooting out my COMM room?"

"Ranger, she was assaulted and messed up pretty bad a couple of years ago. The guy that was responsible just sent her some fucked up message and she freaked. She is far from crazed. She's stronger then you could ever imagine." Tank growled before turning and stalking to the stairwell. "I am offline until morning."

"Ranger!" Ram yelled, running full-speed into the COMM room. "We got a problem."

**Okay, so I understand that this is a crappy way to end this chapter, but there is going to be a lot going on in the next one and want to make sure that I give it all the attention that it needs. Keep up the reviews…it's like my own personal form of crack **


	17. Chapter 16

**SAME OLD, BLAH-BLAH, NOT MINE, BLAH-BLAH, ALL JANET EVANOVICH, BLAH-BLAH...HAVE FUN! **

RANGER POV

"What is it, Ram?" I asked, cracking my neck trying to relieve some of the tension.

"Boss, the phone is going crazy downstairs. Have you been answering your personal line at all?" Ram said making his way towards me, stopping within reaching distance. I shook my head and shrugged.

"Why?"

"Man, its bad. Just don't kill the messenger, okay?" Even though Ram was a bad-ass merc who could kill just about any man that I know, he looked down-right scared to tell me something.

"Just spit it out, Ram. I am not in the mood."

He took a deep breath and spoke. "You father was arrested, your grandmother and mother are about to be deported by the INS, your sisters and Rachel have both the CPS at their doors threatening to take the kids into custody, and your brother Diego was just arrested at the airport under suspicion of drug-trafficking." He stepped back when he was done and flinched slightly waiting for my response.

I couldn't move, couldn't speak. I looked at Les, who was standing mouth opened.

"What the fuck did you just say?" Les finally sputtered out.

Ram just shook his head, "Do I really have to repeat it?"

"Shit!" I finally screamed, kicking the closest thing to me, thankfully it was just a rolling chair, and sent it skittering across the room and smashing into the wall. "Get my lawyers on the phone; I need volunteers from the other branches to go check on Julie and Rachel. Get my father and brother out of custody and for FUCK sake, someone get my mother and grandmother away from INS!" I began screaming orders to no one in particular. Men scattered following my orders, picking up phones and grabbing gear.

"Carlos, what the hell is going on?" Les said, rubbing his hand through his hair. "I have to call the cousins to start the phone tree to make sure no one else is involved." I nodded and watched as he flipped out his phone. Remembering that Ram had asked me about my phone I reached down to check it out. It was set on vibrate. I hadn't wanted to disturb my Babe this afternoon and I had forgotten to turn it back on. There were 74 voice mail messages, and over a hundred text messages.

"Fuck me." I whispered, as I began flipping through the text messages. My sister's frantic texts pulled at my heart. I should have been there for them. Sighing, I started going through my voice mail using my visual voice mail program in my phone. I scanned through my family's voice mails quickly, but was interrupted by a phone call from an unknown number.

"Manoso." I barked into the phone.

"Heard you are having some family issues." A snide voice rang through the phone. I recognized it instantly as Joe Morelli.

"Morelli, I will kill you for this." I growled, motioning for Les to trace the call.

"You fucked up my family, Ranger." He growled back. "How does it feel? Is she really worth it? Do you honestly think that your fucking connections can stop mine?" He laughed, which made my blood boil.

"Yes she is worth it and yes I KNOW that I can beat you at any little 'game' you want to play." I snarled, "But that isn't going to change the fact that Stephanie is mine, and always will be."

Morelli just laughed again. "You know, I have a few friends in dark places too you know." I could feel my body quaking with anger. "In fact, I heard a rumor that your little skank of a daughter was already put into temporary custody. Unfortunately, the house that she went to has a few….let's say 'blemishes…on their record."

I couldn't speak at this point, but a low menacing growl escaped.

"Oh... what's the matter Ranger?" Joe asked in a sickeningly sweet sarcasm. "Not liking the idea that your little girl is going to be beaten by some stranger, or maybe if she's lucky she'll learn some valuable 'life lessons'. Like how to keep her man happy." Morelli chuckled loudly.

"I WILL KILL YOU!" I screamed into the phone, hearing it crackle slightly under the force of my fist. "YOU WILL BE BEGGING ME TO MAKE IT QUICK, MORELLI!"

"Just like Steph used to, huh?" He sang. I couldn't hold back any longer. I threw the phone across the room, watching it smash into a little pieces. I reached behind me and pulled out my gun, pointed it to the phone and unloaded the whole clip.

"Jesus!" Les screeched, jumping back away from me. "Has everyone lost their fucking minds today?" He pulled the gun out of my hand and placed one hand on either shoulder. I could feel myself vibrating in anger against his still hands.

"Julie." I snarled out, trying to form coherent words to explain. "Morelli."

"Oh, fuck me." Les dropped his hands and flipped his phone open again, making a call. "Silvio. Pull up Julie's trackers." A grin flashed across his face. "Yep. Fast, too. Something is not right. Take her to a safe house; we are already working on the legal shit." A big sigh. "Thanks man."

Ram ran up to me again, stopping within arm's length and cleared his throat. I turned my head slowly and stared at him. "Speak!"

"Umm...we have lawyers at INS and both Newark PD and Boston PD getting your father and Diego out. Your dad was stopped by a cop on the way to get your mother and grandmother, and drugs were found in his car as well as an unregistered semi-automatic weapon. He is being considered high-risk because they say they have proof of gang affiliation. Your sisters still have their kids in custody and the charges are being investigated as we speak."

"Hey, man. Silvo said that Julie still had her trackers on and running. They figure that she will be in a safe house within the hour. He is making sure of it personally, and will contact me when he knows." Les chimed in. "The cousins said that everyone else is good. Well, except for Fernando…he was arrested yesterday for some stupid thing. Nothing unusual though, so it's not related. You might need to start making phone calls. I can help if you want?"

I nodded my head. "I got it. Thanks, Lester." I clapped a hand on his shoulder. "Can you please go check on Stephanie and Gabi…and then Tank? He looked pretty pissed off."

Les nodded and smiled before leaning in and giving me a half "man" hug. "Carlos, we are going to get him. Trust me on this. He fucked with too many people we love. I will even give you the honors of personally slitting his throat." He smiled again and winked before running towards the elevators.

"Dios mio!" I exclaimed before heading back into my office and slamming the door.

LESTER's POV

I hopped into the elevator waving my FOB at the controls, needing a moment to cool down before I see the girls. This day was just FUBAR and it seems like it is only going to get better. The elevator doors dinged open and I knocked lightly on the apartment door.

"Who is it?" Steph's voice echoed on the other side.

"It's me. Les." I called, leaning my ear against the door hoping to hear something. "Everything going okay?"

Hearing footsteps, I stood up straight. Steph opened the door and sighed, staring up at me with her bright blue eyes.

"She's pretty upset, but I at least have her understanding where she is and who you guys were." She said as she turned to walk into the apartment. Taking it as an invitation to come in, I did and slowly closed the door behind me. "She actually is feeling pretty guilty for pulling a knife on you guys."

We walked into the living room and saw Gabi sitting knees to chest on the sofa. Her face was stained with tear tracks and her eyes were red and puffy. The moment she saw me, her bottom lip quivered slightly before she tucked her face back into her knees. I strode over to her, slowly kneeling down to face her.

"Gabi?" I asked, reaching out and stroking her head. "Gorgeous…baby…look at me."

She slowly lifted her head, this time biting down on her bottom lip; apparently to keep it from quivering. A tear slid silently down her cheek.

"Love, come here." I outstretched my arms and she launched herself into my chest almost knocking me over. I sat on my knees, stroking her back and hair as she sobbed into my chest.

"I'm sorry Les. I'm so sorry. I didn't know where I was, and it was like I was there again." Her voice broken with tears. "I feel so terrible. I would never want to hurt any of you. You are my best friend, and I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I had hurt anyone."

"Gabi, it's okay. It happens. We all understand." I smiled into her hair, loving the way that it felt to have her tucked into my arms. "Do you guys need anything up here? Did Ella bring you up some tea?"

"No we are good for now. Bruce is sleeping and Ella is making cookies. She says that we need some chocolate." Steph said smiling.

I chuckled, kissing the top of Gabi's head. "Do you want me to bring you another one of those smoothies?" She nodded her head, without lifting it to look in my eyes. This made me chuckle again. "Any special flavor, love?"

"Strawberry banana." She said into my chest. I smiled again, this time laughing out loud.

"Gabi, look at me." I whispered. She tipped her head back slowly looking into my eyes. "No one is mad at you, or are they disappointed. They are all worried about whether or not you are okay. I have to go and talk to Tank and then I am going to run and get you your strawberry smoothie." I tapped her on the nose. "If you want I can stay up with you two for a while, or if you want we can go back to my apartment and we can play Raving Rabbids."

She smiled, as I knew that she would. "Okay, but I get to be player one." She rolled her eyes. "I have problems maneuvering otherwise." I nodded my head, untangled myself from her grasp and headed back to the elevator to find Tank. I am pretty sure that I knew where he was.

****AUTHOR's NOTE****

**Instead of posting one large chapter I am going to break it up into 1500-2000 word chapters. I know what it's like to not get updates on stories that I am reading so I want to keep you all interested. I am loving all of the review and responses to this story. Thanks again for reading…and look for the next chapter really soon!**


	18. Chapter 17

Tank was exactly where I thought he would be…on the roof. He was sitting, his long legs dangling over the edge of the building, and his arms bracing himself on either side.

"Tank?" I asked, taking slow steps towards him, making as much noise as I could. The last thing you would ever want to do is sneak up on a man that would make Andre the Giant second guess his bad-assedness.

"Les, man I just don't know if I can do this shit." Tank's voice was barely audible.

I reached him in two long strides and put a hand on his shoulder. "Come on Pierre, what's going on?"

"She was afraid of us, man." He said, looking me in the eyes. "I never thought that I would see that in her eyes, but she was terrified."

"I know, but it wasn't us. It was them, you know that." I sat down next to him, bending one leg up and resting my elbow on it. "She's gonna have issues like this, but she even told me that we are the first men that she feels safe with. That has to mean something."

"I'm glad that she told you." He said, rubbing his large hands over his scalp. "She needs to be open about this, and not hide from it."

"Well, I think that I kind of pushed it out of her. But I am glad that she told me." I stared down the eight flights to the sidewalk below.

"What do you mean, you think you pushed her?" Tank's said with obvious irritation.

"Nothing like that, Tank. We went out the other night with the guys and the conversation happened to include the last time she had a date. I'm not going to lie, we all were shocked but she didn't tell us anything and I didn't really pry. Then she told me the next morning at breakfast." I continued to stare at the sidewalk. "Then she told me that you knew as well."

"Shit." Tank said, pushing my shoulder gently, but hard enough to where I had to brace myself with my free hand so I didn't pitch over the side of the building. "So this means that you know why I know, right?" I nodded.

"I wanted to kick your ass for all of five minutes, man." I said, turning to face him. "But I don't think that I would be able to say no if I was in that situation."

"Yeah." Tank nodded, and sighed. "I still felt like shit afterwards though. I mean…shit, Les…I think that almost everyone here is partly in love with her. Especially after Steph left, she was a breath of fresh air. Then when Lula and I split, she would talk to me about shit, and help me through it. I love her, but I want Lula. It just sucks that I even when I had the chance to be with Gabi, I couldn't stop thinking about Lula. She's everything to me, and now she hates me. I feel like a failure, and I am not used to that."

"I bet that once we get that sick fuck, Q, off the streets she will feel a hell of a lot better." I smacked Tank on the shoulder. "Let's get back inside. The mother of all bombs just dropped and Ranger needs us."

Tank turned around, swinging his legs, and standing up. "What happened?"

I took a deep breath and explained everything that I knew as of now.

"Yep, sounds like we are going to be killing a cop. What do you think?"Tank smiled, holding the door open for me.

"He put his hands on Steph and now on Gabi…he isn't going to survive the night if I can help it." We hurried our way down the stairs and back on the COMM room floor, heading straight for Ranger's office. "How are the phone calls coming?"

"Fuck me, Les." He growled. "Abuela Rose said that I am grounded for the rest of my life and Mamma said that I best not be expecting any flan until this…" his raised his hands making the quotation marks sign with his fingers. "Stupid bastard meets with Jesus."

"Damn." Tank said his jaw dropping. "Your mamma never swears."

"Yeah, well she's fucking pissed. Morelli and his little contacts almost got her and Abuela shipped off to Cuba. They have quilting in the morning, and thank God I got them home before they miss it."

I laughed, "Thank God they are blaming you and not me."

"Fuck you Lester." He growled. "How's Gabi and Steph?"

"Steph is fine, but Gabi is still a little shaken. I am going to run to the organic café down the street and get her smoothie. Then I am going to take her down to my apartment to help her relax. I don't think she is very comfortable up there."

"I am going to go up to my apartment in a few minutes." Ranger said, turning to Tank. "Would you come up with me? I know that she is comfortable with you." Tank just nodded.

"Alright, I will be up in a bit." I said as I strolled out of the office, down the COMM room floor and down the stairs to the street.

Tank's POV.

With a deep sigh, I followed Ranger up the stairs to the seventh floor. We both stopped before he opened the door.

"Tank, this whole thing is so FUBAR." Ranger sighed and leaned his head against the door frame. "I finally come home after a year of fucking hell, to find my Babe beaten to shit. A son I didn't know existed, and a cousin that's got some sick fuck after her. This whole thing with Morelli seems like icing on the cake."

"Man, I know what you mean. I can't imagine what the hell is going through your head right now." I clapped a hand on his shoulder and squeezed gently. "Let's just get our girls in a good place, and then go after these two fuckers."

He nodded, smiled slightly and opened the door.

"Ranger!" Steph said, leaping up from the sofa and almost running to him. They met in a loving embrace. You know the kind where your heart tugs just a little because it solidifies how alone you really are? Wait...I thought. That's just me. (Great internal sigh.)

"Babe, is everything okay?" He asked, pulling away from her slightly.

"Yeah. I just have this horrible feeling that something really bad is going to happen. Is everyone okay?" She was jittery. She usually is when her spidey-senses are going in over-drive.

"Yeah." He said, smoothing her curls away from her face.

"How's Gabi doing?" I asked, peeking around them to see Gabi sitting on the sofa curled up into a tight ball.

"She's better." Steph said the pain obvious on her face. "She knows where she is and who you all are. I have been trying to tell her that you guys aren't going to hate her for what happened."

"Shit." I whispered, leaving Steph and Ranger to comfort one another and heading towards Gabi on the sofa. "Hey, Cricket." I said softly, kneeling down in front of her. "How's it going?"

"Oh, Tank!" She yelled, launching herself at me and wrapping her arms around my neck. "I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to…shit…I didn't know it was you guys." Her voice muffled with sobs and my t-shirt. I wrapped my arms around her and snuggled her close to my chest until her sobs slowed.

"Gabi. We all understand PTSD. Shit, I don't think there's anyone here who doesn't have it." I laughed softly pulling her back so I could look into her eyes. Her hair was in a mess, having fallen from her French braids and were sticking out all over. Smiling, I set her back down on the couch and gently untied the braids, letting her long thick brown hair fall. It curled slightly where it had been restrained by the tight braids. "I love it when you wear your hair down, Cricket."

She smiled and rolled her eyes slightly. "It's such a pain in the ass. I think that I should just cut it all off." As she spoke she reached up and rubbed my bald head. "Do you think that the Mr. Clean look would work for me?"

"You cut your hair and I will kick your ass." I joked, taking her hand from my head and kissed the palm. "Gabi, I have to ask you about Q?"

"I know." She said, her bottom lip quivering slightly. "He's going to kill me, Boss. He ended up losing his scholarship, and his dad cut him off financially. He has been blaming me. That's why I ended up coming to Trenton. He wasn't going to stop until he felt I got what I deserved." She tucked her head down to her chest to avoid my face.

"What did the note say?" I asked quietly, lifting her chin up with my finger.

"He said that that he will see me soon and that he can't wait to see my new tattoos." She spoke softly as tears filled her eyes. "I don't know how he could've found me. He didn't know about Stephanie, and my family would never have told them I was in New Jersey, let alone here at Rangeman."

"We are going to figure everything out, Cricket." I pulled her into a hug. "I swear to you, he will get what has been coming to him for a long time."

Ranger cleared his throat and we jumped apart, her scooting back onto the sofa and me getting up from the knee I was taking in front of her.

"I think that we are going to need to bring in the big guns for this one. He's fucking with my family…." He looked towards Gabi. "Both sides." Gabi smiled. "We are going to have to call in some favors. I need to know how he's getting all of this shit done. Plus, I think I know where this Q guy found out about Gabi's where-abouts."

"Morelli." I growled, my fists tightening at my sides.

"Yep. Steph told me that he has known about it since it happened."

"I didn't tell him recently." Stephanie said, stepping towards Gabi. "Remember, he brought me to the airport when you were in the hospital."

Gabi nodded with understanding. "It's okay, Steph. It's not like we knew that Joe was going to turn into some homicidal maniac."

"I am going to bring you two to my safe house in Point Pleasant." Ranger said, stepping towards Stephanie and wrapping an arm around her waist. "The three of you will be under constant surveillance. I will be sending Les, Ram and Bobby with you. Unfortunately, Tank and I are going to have to be personally involved with some of our contacts. But I will come when I can." He kissed Steph and the back of the neck and squeezed her gently towards him. "I am sending Les and Ram with you to get some stuff at your apartment." He said to Gabi. "As soon as Les gets up here you can head out. Tank you are coming with me, we have a meeting to set up."

I knew exactly what he was talking about. We had a few off-color connections that were very picky about who they talked to and how. One of them was a high-level Russian crime family member. He was a great guy to have your back when you are dealing with the Trenton PD. This place maybe an Italian "family" haven, but the Russians owned the majority of the force. He could help us take down Morelli quietly without the PD coming to his rescue. The other was a gentleman known only as Clink. He can find anyone, anytime. We met him a few years ago when Stephanie's friend Diesel stopped by for visit. He was what she called an unmentionable, and from what I gather that means that he is one step away from fruit cake and one step closer to fucking Superman.

"I am going to get a hold of Diesel." Steph said, smiling slightly. "He owes me…BIG TIME."

"Babe. I want to be with you when he gets here. I don't trust him." Ranger said in a low menacing voice as the front door opened.

"Don't trust who?" Les said.

"Diesel." I said, tilting my head indicating Steph. "Bomber here is gonna call him for some backup."

"Oooh…" Les hissed. "I would love to be there for that. Do you think that he is going to burn down the Plum's house again?"

"He didn't burn down the house." Steph rolled her eyes. "Just the Christmas Tree."

"Weren't you engaged to him?" Les added, plopping down next to Gabi and wrapping an arm around her shoulders and handing her a smoothie. "Hey Gorgeous."

"Shut up, Les!" Steph growled. Ranger looked like he was going to have a stroke. She turned to him and smiled sweetly. "We weren't really engaged. We just told my parents that."

"I never liked that guy." Ranger muttered, before kissing Steph softly on the lips. "Let's head out, Tank. We have a bunch of shit to wade through."

I nodded and leaned down, kissing Gabi on top of the head. "Be safe Cricket. I will call your cell as soon as I can." I turned and looked at Les. "Santos, one hair man….one hair."

"Yeah. Yeah." Les said, batting his hand towards me. "I know."

Gabi POV

I watched as Ranger and Tank walked out the door, taking a long pull from my smoothie. I sighed and leaned my head against Les.

"Thank you." I whispered.

"Anytime." He whispered back, kissing my temple. "I guess that we are all going on vacation."

"Yep." Steph said, plopping down in the large leather recliner next to us. "Hey, can I borrow your phone?"

Les nodded and handed her his phone. "Who are you calling?"

"Diesel." She said matter of factly.

"Who the hell is Diesel?" I asked Les as Steph starting punching in numbers. It was a really long number, more than any international number. "And where the hell are you calling….Mars?"

"Diesel is a friend of Steph's that has pretty crazy skills. He pops up sometimes looking for other freakishly crazy people and asks Steph to help."

Steph shushed us as the line picked up.

"D?" Steph said into the phone. "Yeah I know. It's been a long time." She rolled her eyes. "Yes I know." A sigh and laugh. "Diesel I told you that you and I would never work. Plus, I am with Ranger." Another laugh. "Yeah the superhero guy. And not Aquaman…Batman!" Her smile faded. "Yeah. It's pretty bad." A smile re-appeared. "See you in a few."

"Thanks, Les." She said, tossing the phone back to him. "He will be here in a few minutes. He is going to come with us."

"I don't think that Ranger is going to like that, Bomber." Les said, staring at the number that she had dialed. "What the hell kind of number is that? It's got like a hundred and fifty digits."

"It's not really a number, more like a pass phrase." She smiled and turned to me. "You are going to love Diesel. He's one of a kind and super hot."

"Yea." I said glumly. "Just what I need another super hot, one of a kind guy in my life."

"Good thing you got me, Gorgeous." Les said, pulling me onto his lap. "I am just the right amount of super hot guy you need."

"Les, you are a dork." I kissed the tip of his nose. Ella came in with a knock at the front door.

"Cookies!" She exclaimed, and Steph and I jumped up and met her half way. We were stuffing ourselves with cookies when there was another knock at the door. The smell of Christmas filled the air.

"Diesel!" Steph yelled, running full tilt to the door and jumping into the arms of a large dirty-blonde haired man.

"You are a sight for sore eyes, Steph." Diesel said, wrapping his arms around her and swinging her feet off the ground.

"How did you get in here?" Les asked, picking up his phone as it rang. "Yeah. It's all good. NO, I don't need backup. Yeah…it's Diesel." I quirked my eyebrow at him. He replied. "Ranger. Cal saw him in the monitor and freaked out."

**AUTHOR's NOTE: I am working at getting this done. I know that Diesel's appearance might be a "WTF" kind of thing…but trust me…it will be make sense. Enjoy! **


	19. Chapter 18

**Okay…It's not mine. All J.E.'s. Thanks to everyone who has kept up with this one. It's been my baby for the past month or so. ENJOY!**

"Diesel," Steph said, breaking from the hug with Diesel and turned to me. "This is my cousin, Gabi. And you already know Les."

"Sup." Diesel said to Les, who just tilted his head back in acknowledgement. Diesel looked towards me, smiled and walked up to me. Taking my hand in his, he kissed my wrist and whispered huskily. "It's wonderful to make your acquaintance, Gabi."

"Thanks." I stuttered, unsure exactly what I supposed to do.

"Knock it off, freak boy." Les said, swatting my hand out of his. Diesel chuckled, never breaking his gaze into my eyes.

"You don't have her yet, Les." He said eyeing Les with a wolfish grin before he winked at me, sending hot flashes to my nether regions.

"Okay." Steph said, sighing. "Let's get this show on the road. Ella, can you pack up Bruce and my things. Gabi, you might want to get Ram and Les together and get your things from your apartment. But before you do that, we should head down to see Ranger. You know that he isn't happy that you came up here first. Did you just pop into the hallway, or was it the elevator?"

"The hallway." Diesel said shrugging. I had no idea what the hell they were talking about.

"What do you mean, _pop_?" I asked, putting my hands on my hips. "And, sorry to be rude, but who the hell are you and what are you going to do?"

"Sorry." Diesel turned to me, gently cupped my elbow with his hand and led me towards the sofa. Les stalked after us, arms crossed tightly across his chest. When we reached the sofa, he motioned for me to sit. When I did, he sat down next to me. "My name is Diesel. I am what we like to call an Unmentionable. I have…let's say…special abilities. I am here because Steph asked me to come and help her out. She is a very special friend to me. "He smiled, turned and winked at Steph…who blushed instantly. "I am going to follow you to the safe house and make sure that if anything happens…I can get you guys out while the guys keep whomever at bay."

"I can take care of myself." I scoffed, crossing my arms. "I am not some weak female."

"I have been told." He smiled again, putting his hand gently on my knee. I stared at it, feeling heat radiate from his hand. "I can't let anything happen to Steph, or the baby. She's…let's say…under my personal protection…when she lets me." He narrowed his eyes at her. "But from now on…I am not letting her tell me no."

"D, you know why I couldn't let you help me with Joe." Steph rolled her eyes and fell into the recliner next to the sofa.

"Yeah…but I could have still helped. Manoso could have known months ago, and I can handle Morelli…remember…" He raised his hands. "Strong like bull."

"Yeah, yeah." She said, batting at his hands. "Let's head down to Ranger's office before he has a shit fit. I am sure that he is waiting down there.

"Yep. He's been pacing ever since he was notified of my arrival." He laughed. "That man has to lighten up."

Les huffed, and held out his hand for me to get up. I took it, and we walked hand in hand to the door. When we reached Ranger's office, we were met by Cal, Ram, Tank and the Man in Black himself all standing arms crossed tightly over their chest.

"Batman!" Diesel sang out. "Long time no see, Brother. How's it been going?"

"Diesel, I thought I told you to use the door the next time you came to visit." Ranger's voice was tight, but you could sense the anger.

"You know that's not my style." He shook his head. "Plus, you know Steph loves it when I pop in."

"Let's get this shit rolling." Tank said, tilting his head towards the office. "We don't need the whole office hearing this."

We piled into the office and sat on the sofa and chairs that surrounded Ranger's large executive desk. Steph sitting on Ranger's desk, Tank and Ram on the chairs and the rest of us squeezed onto the couch. I was squeezed between Les and Diesel, who smelled amazing…like Christmas. I couldn't help but turn my head towards him and breathe in deeply. Ranger's voice startled me back to reality.

"Our connections have been made, and we have eyes on the street. My guy told me that he thinks that Morelli and this Q gentleman have been staying at Mooch's house. We are sending guys over there as we speak, but it's a long shot. They have been moving around a lot. Tank and I have meetings this afternoon to see what else we can find out." Ranger sat heavily into his chair. "The safe house in Point Pleasant is ready for you and of course is going to be monitored 24/7. Diesel, please refrain from 'popping' in and out. There are heat sensors monitoring both the interior and exterior. That way we know if the security system has been breached we will know how many bodies are in the house at any given minute."

"Not a problem." Diesel said, crossing his leg over his knee and wrapping his arm around my shoulders. Les swatted the hand, which Diesel just curled over my shoulder and laid precariously over my arm.

"The rest of the core team is going to be scrambling to find these mother fuckers." Tank's deep voice echoed across the room. I glanced over at him, and noticed that his face was hardened and he was staring at Diesel's hand which was now making slow circles on my arm.

"So…" Diesel sang nonchalantly. "Let's get this show on the road."

Les stood up and gave me his hand. "Ram and I are taking Gabi to her apartment to pick up some things for her. We will be back in about an hour, and then we can head out to the safe house."

"Before you go, get her outfitted with a couple trackers and for God sake make sure that she is fully dressed." Ranger said to Les before turning to Steph. "You too…I need to make sure that you are safe."

She just kissed Ranger and nodded.

"Let's go Gorgeous."

They had me "dressed" and down to the garage and were pulling out in a shiny black Escalade within 10 minutes of leaving Ranger's office. The ride was silent, as both Ram and Les were vigilantly taking in our surroundings. Ram parked the SUV directly in front of the doors and we ran in with me sandwiched between them. We took the stairs to maintain security and reached my apartment door in lightening speed. All of the guys knew my apartment well, as it had been Steph's for years before she married Joe. The moment that Les opened the door I knew that something wasn't right.

"Stop." I said, as he put his hand on the door. "Something isn't right."

"What do you mean?" Ram said, both men pulling out their guns and clicking off the safety.

"There's just something not right." There was this sinking feeling that I just couldn't shake. Les nodded to Ram, who pushed me down the hall a way and covered my body with his. I heard Les kick the door, jumping it off the hinges and crashing it into the entry way of my apartment. A cloud of smoke filled the hall way the instant the apartment was breeched.

"It's just tear gas." Les said to Ram who covered my mouth and nose with a black bandana he had in his pocket. "I'll go in and open the windows and fans to pull it out. You want to call the super and have him open the windows and contact the other occupants." Ram nodded and pulled out his phone, not letting me move from against the wall. Les stalked into the fog and entered the apartment.

Ram was on the phone, his chest rumbling as he spoke. I leaned into him watching the door for Les. Within a few minutes, the hallway was clearing up and I could see into my apartment. Les popped his head out of the door and waved me in, Ram releasing me so I could follow.

"Shit." I said, looking around my now trashed apartment.

"Yeah. It's pretty fucked up. Looks like you have had a squatter last night." He pointed to the coffee table, where take-out boxes and beer covered it and trickled onto the floor.

I sighed and stalked towards my bedroom, praying that I had some clothes and at least my necessities still intact. "FUCKING BASTARDS!" I screamed as I inched open my door. Les ran up behind me and placed a hand around my waist. My mattress was shredded, stuffing and remnants of my bedding strewn all over the floor. My clothes' status was similar but mostly piled high on top of what used to be my bed and covered with what I can only imagine was ketchup and bleach. I groaned as I pulled open one o f my drawers and found that my visitors had been very thorough. Every stitch of clothing was destroyed, including my lingerie! I turned and looked at Les. "They destroyed my underwear."

"Gorgeous, I will make it my personal mission to replace every stitch of panties that you lost." His smiled a wolfish grin and kissed my cheek. "Good thing Tank grabbed all that shit for you. Let's pick up your essentials and get moving. The bathroom seems fairly untouched, and I know that you keep your meds in the kitchen…I will go and get them."

"How did you know about my meds?" I asked him, grabbing his shirt as he tried to walk away. "I never told you."

"Remember that day a couple of weeks ago when you had that really bad cold and I came over to make you chicken soup?" He asked, smiling.

"Yes." I groaned. I was so sick and miserable. Les had been a godsend.

"I had to search your cabinets to see where everything was and I happened across them." He kissed my cheek and whispered into my ear. "It's nothing to be ashamed of. Everyone has trouble with life sometimes."

"Yeah, but it makes me feel like such a weakling that I have to depend on shit like sleep aids and anti-anxiety medication to function." I could feel my face heat. It was embarrassing that he knew about them. I have been trying to hide them from the guys, not wanting them to think of me as weak.

"It's all good." He wrapped an arm around my shoulder. "Get your stuff and we will head out."

I nodded and slipped into the bathroom, gathering up my essentials…deodorant, makeup, shampoo, conditioner, razors, face wash, and lotion. I slipped them all into a small leather carrying bag and slung it over my shoulder. Les met me in the hallway with my meds, which he slipped quickly into the bag, and a box of Little Debbie Swiss Cake Rolls.

"How the hell do you even have these?" He asked, pointing at the Cake rolls. "They don't even sell them on the East Coast."

"My girlfriend lives in Wisconsin and sends me cases of them." When I spoke Les' eyes got wide and he glanced around the room in search for them. I sighed. "Look in the cabinet over the fridge."

"Fuck yea!" He said, pulling out box after box of Swiss cake rolls. "I hit the jackpot." He grabbed one of my green canvas grocery bags and stuffed 10 boxes into it before wrapping an arm around me and pushing me out the door.

"All set." Ram said, leaning up against the wall. "We are going to take the Suburban. Tank wants Gabi to call when we are on our way back." He pushed off the wall and handed me his cell phone. "Call as we walk."

I pulled up Tank's number and dialed as we walked down the stairs.

"Speak." Tank said after one ring.

"Hey Boss." I sang into the phone. "How's it hanging?"

"To the left like normal, Cricket." He laughed. "On your way back?"

"Yeah, my apartment was sacked, everything in my bedroom was destroyed…and I mean EVERYTHING!" I said dramatically.

"Even that silky thing I caught you in that one morning?" He said, I could hear the smile in his voice.

"Yes, Tank. I mean everything. My clothes, bed and even my bedding was shredded and covered with bleach." I said crawling into the SUV, Les and Ram stood guard before getting in themselves.

"Gabi, that sucks. Good thing I got those clothes this morning. What's your ETA?"

I looked out the window before I answered. "About 10 minutes."

"Good. I will meet you at Les' door. I need to talk to you before y'all head out." With that Tank disconnected.

We sat in silence for the rest of the ride, pulling into the garage and parking without a sound. Some of the guys were standing around the Suburban packing up equipment and baby gear. Ram and Les started heading towards them to help.

"Les, I need to go back to your apartment to get my stuff." I called.

"Not a problem." He jogged back towards me and handed me a set of keys. "Make sure you grab your phone from 5 and call me if you need help." He kissed my cheek and went back to help.

Tank was leaning up against Les' door and smiled when I got off the elevator. He stepped aside as I took out the keys and unlocked the door.

"So, what's up Tank?" I asked, pushing the door open and heading into the apartment.

"I just wanted to chat with you before you go." He followed me.

"Do you mind if I pack while we talk?" I asked, pointing towards the bedroom. Tank shrugged and followed me into my bedroom and sitting down on the bed. I pulled out the large duffel bag he had brought earlier and opened the top drawer of the dresser.

"I wanted to ask you about Les?" He said his voice soft and low. I turned and looked at him, a handful of panties and socks.

"What do you mean?"

"He knew." He said pointedly, shrugging his shoulders. "And he told me that he practically made you tell him."

"It wasn't like that. He knew that something wasn't right about what I had said and he just asked me to tell him what was going on." I rolled my eyes remembering my stupid behavior at the club. "Plus, I put myself into a situation that wouldn't have ended well if he hadn't shown up. And when he took me home that night, I told him…more or less...that I would have sex with him but I was broke."

"Did he push you?" Tank's voice growled deep in his chest, his eyes darkening with anger.

"No!" I rubbed my temples with my fingertips. "We were dancing, and my hormones woke up and wanted to play, but my body wasn't ready. I got flustered and threw myself at some random guy at the bar to compensate."

"Gabi." He said softly shaking his head.

I was shoving panties and bras, socks and pajamas into the bag not caring that they will be wrinkled. I hated that Tank was disappointed in me. I had been so stupid that night. I saw Tank get up from the bed and grab my arms, halting my hasty packing.

"Stop." He sighed. "Gabi, are you and Les….did you two…"

"Shit." I whispered, thunking my head against his thick chest. "I don't know what we are, but we haven't done anything like that."

Tank hooked a finger under my chin and lifted my face to his. "Gabi, do you want to have something with Les?"

"Yes. No. I don't know." I shook my head. "It's confusing. I don't want to disappoint him, or start something with him that I can't finish and then get hurt in the end."

"You know, if it weren't for the fact that I am still in love with Lula, I would beg you to have me." He said softly, bending down to touch his forehead to mine. "You deserve to be happy, to have someone give themselves 100% to you. Les can do that." He pulled himself back to look into my eyes.

"Tank." A sigh heaving in my chest and tears burning my eyes. He stroked my cheek, wiping the few rouge tears that had escaped my eyes. His eyes darkened and his other arm tightened around my waist pulling me up off my feet so we were face to face.

"Gabi, I can't stand to see you cry." His voice was thick and soft, as the hand stroking my cheek wrapped under my ass securing me against him. I could feel his heart beating in his chest and his sweet breath against my face. Like always, he smelled like watermelon jolly ranchers. I moaned softly, enjoying the sensations of being in his arms. "Cricket, my self-control is weak right now. I don't know if I could handle rejection." He loosened his grip, slowly lowering me to the floor. When my feet hit the carpet, he took a step back but I grabbed his shirt, pulling him back towards me.

"Tank, I'm sorry."

"No. Don't." He closed his eyes.

"I mean. I am sorry that I couldn't help you heal after Lula, maybe help you move on. You are one of the greatest men that I have ever met, and I am sorry that we couldn't be that way." I let go of his shirt and turned to continue packing. He stood there processing what I had said, and I could almost see the smoke.

"Gabi, you are amazing, beautiful, and smart and the strongest woman I have ever met." He covered the ground between us in one long stride. "I know that you have already started falling for Les, and I am glad. But I want you to know that you mean the world to me….even if our relationship is as friends. But before I accept you and Les and potential partners I have to do something."

"Wha.." I began to say before Tank grabbed my face gently with both hands and lowered his mouth to mine. The kiss began sweet and gentle, him nibbling gently on my bottom lip and sweeping his tongue across my own sensuously. Soon, it became frantic with teeth almost sparking and tongues slashing between us. I wrapped my arms tightly around his neck and pulled as he bent down, grabbing around my ass and wrapping my legs around his waist. I moaned as he broke the kiss and swept hot wet kisses down my neck and across my collarbone. Heat coursed through my body as he ground himself against me. I could feel his need against my core, hard and unyielding.

A loud click broke us apart, sending me crashing to my feet on to the floor.

"Gabi?" Les' voice called through the apartment. "You almost ready?"

"Shit." I whispered at Tank, who stood in front of me with a look of utter confusion on his face. "In here, Les!" I called out, smoothing my hair and clothes before frantically throwing everything in the drawers into the bag.

"Are you still packing?" He said as he walked in through the open bedroom door. "We have to get going." He stopped when he saw Tank standing there, and narrowed his eyes. "What's going on?"

"Nothing." Tank said a little too quickly.

"Tank and I were just talking." I said, stuffing the last item into the bag before zipping the bag closed. "Okay. Let's rock." I patted Tank on the shoulder and said a quick goodbye before heading out the door.

Les and Tank followed after me, staring at each other. Shit. I thought. They are going to duke it out in the hallway. I quickly pressed the elevator button and slid as the doors opened. Tank and Les followed, still locked eye to eye. I reached five and shot out the elevator, shouting over my shoulder.

"Stay put and hold the door; it will take me just a second to get my phone." Les put his foot out to hold the doors and stood arms across his chest waiting. Flying back from my cubicle with my phone and charger in hand finally headed to the garage where Ranger was kissing Steph and Bruce goodbye.

"Call me every hour on the hour." Ranger said to Ram who was standing in front of the Suburban. When we reached the SUV I tossed my bag into the back and stood next to Ram.

"Did you get lost, Gabi?" Ram joked, pulling on my hair.

"No." I rolled my eyes and headed into the SUV, taking the far back seat right before the storage. Minutes later, Steph strapped Bruce into the middle of the middle seat and slid in next to him, positioning the diaper bag with his essentials within arm's reach. Ram slid into the driver's seat and then Bobby got into the passenger seat. Les crawled over the middle seat and plopped down next to me, throwing an arm over the back of the seat.

"Let's roll!" Ram said as he put the SUV in gear and glided out onto the street. We sat again in almost silence, the only sound being Bruce sucking on his thumb. When we reached the interstate, Steph and Bruce were fast asleep and Bobby and Ram were arguing the tactical differences in the Gulf War to the Iraq War. I sighed heavily and stared out the window.

"Penny for your thoughts?" Les asked me, tugging playfully at my hair.

"Just tired." I sighed again. Yeah, I thought. I am emotionally drained. My whole fucking life has flipped upside down and now I have what happened between Tank and I to figure out.

"What happened with Tank?" Les' voice startled me.

"Shit." I cursed. "Inside voices again, huh?" Les nodded and raised his eyebrows.

"Spill it, Gabi." His voice was stern, but not necessarily angry just annoyed.

"Les….I don't know what to tell you. He and I talked...mostly about you…and then it just happened. I don't know how, but it didn't mean anything."

"WHAT didn't mean anything?" This time I could tell he was biting back the tone of his voice.

"Shhhh." I hissed, bringing him closer to me and whispered. "You are going to wake up Steph and the baby."

He glanced over the seat at the two, who were practically comatose. "They are fine. Now talk."

I closed my eyes, balled up my fists and spat it out. "."

"What?" His eyes snapped open and shut. "What the hell did you just say?"

"I said that he told me that I should give us." I pointed between us. "A try because you were the best man for the job."

"What did you say before that?"

"He kissed me." I grumbled.

"He kissed you!" Les sat back and ran his hands through his hair. Bobby looked back at the two of us and asked if everything was okay. Les just scowled and shooed him with his hand. "Okay." He cracked his neck. "Okay."

"Les?" I asked, biting my lip nervously.

"It's okay." He was sounding like he was trying to convince himself. He turned to me. "So, do you believe him?"

"What?" I asked, totally lost to where the conversation had gone.

"Do you think that I am the man for the job? You and I?"His eyebrows perked up.

"Les, this is a lot of shit to take on right now. In the past week I have come to my cousin's rescue, been attacked and molested by her husband, found by my living nightmare and made a fool of myself in front of you and the guys. Now, I am being packed off to a safe house. I like you…no…more than that...but I don't know what I can give you. Or for that matter, whether or not you even really want it. Romantic thoughts of you are close to the surface of my mind all the time. Do I want a relationship? Yes. Would you be the first choice? Yes. I just don't know if I can handle this right now."

He nodded his head when I finished and wrapped his arm around my shoulder. "That's all I needed to know, Love." He said, kissing the top of my head. "That I am in the running for your heart. I know that I have lots of competition, and it's good to know that I have the number one slot." He smiled a huge smile and cuddled me to his chest. "Now, get some sleep we will be there in a couple of hours.


	20. Chapter 19

***Same old, not mine all J.E.'s...just playing with them.**

Les' POV

The rest of the ride was fairly quiet. Steph and Bruce slept until we pulled into the garage at the safe house. Bobby and Ram were rambling on quietly about various subjects and Gabi and I were snuggled up against each other in the back. I loved the feel of her in my arms; the smell of her shampoo and soap filled my senses and put butterflies in my stomach. Diesel had met us outside the perimeter of the safe house, and hopped into the SUV when we saw him.

"Took you guys long enough. Louis has almost everything unloaded from his van." He said quietly as he slid onto the seat next to a sleeping Bruce and Stephanie. We rolled the SUV down the gravel drive and pulled into the garage. Steph groaned softly and opened her eyes.

"Are we there?" She said groggily, rubbing her eyes and stretching. "I'm starving."

"Tell me about it." Diesel said, reaching across Bruce and unbuckling the car seat. "I have been here for over an hour…Louis and I were about to order pizza. But now that you guys are here we can just cook something."

"You could have done that while you were waiting, D." Steph grumbled.

"Load me up." I said to Ram as we walked around to the back of the SUV. "But I get the box of Little Debbies. They are under my personal protection."

"Hell no!" Gabi yelled, yanking the box from on top of the stack of stuff in my arms. "These are mine. I'll share, but I get to maintain supervision over them. They are just too precious."

"Dude, they are just snack cakes." Ram said, pulling the last few bags out of the back. "Gabi can you get the hatch?"

As she slammed it down she stared at Ram. "Just snack cakes?" She turned to me. "Is there something wrong with him? These are only the holy grail of snack cakes…the best thing since sex was invented."

"Wow." Bobby said, trudging up the steps in front of us. "That is just as scary as Bomber and her doughnuts…no wait…birthday cake. You two are addicts."

As we brought in the gear I looked up at the safe house. It was a beautiful two story log cabin with a wraparound porch. The large windows had been replaced with bullet resistant ones, and special insulation had been put in place to stop as much damage as possible. We hauled everything into the living room, separating it into piles of where it belongs. The living room was huge, filled with oversized brown leather furniture, a huge stone fireplace, a television and two huge book cases with games, books, and movies. It opened onto the kitchen/dining room. It had a large bar with stools, and bulky furniture to match the rest of the décor of the house. The staircase leading up to the second floor, and the bedrooms sat front and center when you entered the house.

"We have to figure out who is sleeping where." Ram said, slipping off the jacket he had been wearing and plopping down on the sofa. "There are three bedrooms, but only five beds. We weren't planning on Diesel coming."

"I can bunk with Staph." Diesel said nonchalantly, flopping down on the lazy boy.

"No!" Ram, Bobby and I said in unison.

"I'm senior here." I said, looking around at our little group. "I'll sleep on the sofa. Steph and the baby need their own bed, and I am NOT going to ask you guys to share." I pointed at Ram, Bobby and Diesel. Bobby mouthed 'thank you'.

I clapped my hands together. "Okay, let's get this shit put away so we can make some chow. Diesel, help the girls bring their stuff up while we download the weapons and gear." Everyone set to work, and within 25 minutes we, Ram, Bobby and I, stood staring into the fridge and cabinets.

"What the hell are we going to make?" Bobby asked, picking up a block of American cheese. "How about tomato soup and grilled cheese?"

We shrugged, nodded and stuck out our hands. "Best two out of three." I said. Rock, paper scissors was the best way to tally up chores. Unfortunately, this round I lost, so I began slicing cheese, buttering bread and heating soup. Dinner was done quickly and soon found ourselves packed into the small dining room table.

"God this is so good." Stephanie moaned, biting into her sandwich again. Bruce was hanging in a baby sling around her neck and sucking happily away on his thumb. Every male at the table shifted uncomfortably and smiled.

"I am exhausted." Gabi said, dunking her sandwich in her soup and biting it lazily. "I can't wait to fall into that bed upstairs. It looks absolutely amazing."

"Bobby is going to take the first shift tonight. We are going to be rotating every 6 hours; I will take the second shift, and Ram the third. We don't want to burn out, so make sure to get rest." I said as I finished the last of my food.

"What about me?" Diesel asked, his eyebrows rising.

"Maybe we can start you out during an A.M. shift." I was nervous putting him on duty, especially when it gave him an opportunity to put the moves on Steph, or worse…Gabi. Thankfully, Diesel agreed and we finished our meal in relative silence.

Gabi's POV

Steph and I did the dishes when dinner was done, while Diesel played with Bruce.

"Do you really trust this guy?" I asked her, sliding another bowl into the cabinet. "He's so strange."

"I trust him with my life." She said without wasting a beat. "He maybe a little eccentric, but he is trustworthy and loyal. Don't be afraid of him. He's a great guy."

"I'm not afraid of him, he's just so weird." I glanced over at as he was lying on the floor playing superman with Bruce lying above him in his outstretched arms. "He's hot as hell though."

"Yeah." Steph sighed. "And smells amazing!"

"It's the strangest cologne though. He smells like Christmas." I said, drying the last of the dishes and putting them away.

"No. It's not cologne. It's just his scent. Even right out of a shower, using my soap he smells like that. It's amazing really." She drained the sink and laid the cloth out to dry. "I am going to get Bruce and head up to bed. It's been a crazy day and I could sure use the sleep."

"Yeah, me too." I sighed.

"Ladies." Les said, stepping into the room. "Thanks for doing the dishes. We could have left them for morning."

"It's only fair." Steph said. "You cooked, we can clean up."

"I will remember that." Les smiled and tapped her on the nose. "Gabi, did I hear that you are going to head up to bed?"

"Yea, I am dead tired."

"Why don't I walk you up to your room?" He put out his arm, and I laced mine through it. My room was the second on the left once you got up the stairs. The room was decorated mostly in blue with soft wispy silvery white swirls on the bedding and curtains. The furniture was all dark wood and very modern. It was warm and relaxing.

"I thought you would pick this room." Les said, pulling at my hair playfully. "It screams you."

"I like it." I smiled, plopping down on the bed and Les followed. "So, what's the plan for tomorrow? Are we going to do anything special?"

"Not really." He shrugged. "We are in lockdown until we get confirmation from Ranger or Tank that they have them in custody. But I am sure that we can keep ourselves entertained until then." He wagged his eyebrows at me, and I swatted his shoulder.

"Perv." I laughed, pushing up to stand. "I need to get ready for bed."

"Yeah, I have to head down to the sofa." He enthused sarcastically. "Yippee."

"You don't have to sleep on the sofa if you don't want to, Les." I said slowly, walking towards the dresser and pulling out a pair of soft Victoria's Secret thermal shortie pajamas in purple. Les smiled and walked over to me, standing mere inches behind me.

"Where else would I sleep, Gabi?" He purred into my ear. A shiver ran down my spine and straight to my doodah.

"H-h-here." I stuttered. "If you want to." I grasped my pajamas tightly in my arms, afraid to turn around. This was silly, I thought. Les and I have slept in the same bed before, just not with this much sexual tension between us.

"I would love to." He whispered, sweeping my hair to one side and kissing my neck. "I have to do my checks, but I will be up shortly."

"Okay." I choked out, turning as I felt him walk away from me. I watched as he opened the door, winked at me and left.

"Oh, shit." I whispered to myself. "Oh shit." I threw my pajamas on my bed and bolted out of the bedroom to Stephanie's room across the hall.

"Steph!" I screeched, slamming her door and jumping onto the bed next to her. She and Bruce were dressed for bed snuggling while she talked on the phone.

"Holy Crap!" She yelped as I bounded next to her. I heard a loud voice on the phone. "Ranger…Ranger its okay. It's just Gabi. She startled me. Yes, I will talk to you in the morning. I love you, too." She flipped her phone shut and threw it on the bedside table. "What the hell, Gabi?" She laughed. "You scared the crap out of me."

"Sorry. I have a problem." I gushed, wrapping the blanket edge around my finger nervously. She waved her hand, telling me to go on with it. "I told Les he can bunk with me tonight." I cringed waiting for her to react. But there was nothing. I opened my eyes and looked at her.

"And? She said calmly.

"What should I do?" I sighed exasperated. "We have had a lot of tension lately, and…oh, shit…Steph..I had another man's tongue in my mouth earlier today. Shit, I probably would've gone further but Les came in. My life is so fucked up…I don't know what to do."

"Whoa..whoa..whoa!" Steph said, getting up to put Bruce in his portable crib and started his mobile before sitting back down. "Start again?"

"Les and I had a chat about a possibility between he and I. It was really brief, but I think that it might be a good idea." I blabbered on. "Today, before we left, Tank basically told me that I had his blessing to be with Les and that I need to be happy. Then, he kissed me….I mean REALLY kissed me. I thought that I was going to burst into flames before Les walked in."

"He saw you two kissing!" Steph's voice was a whispered shriek.

"No. We broke apart the second we heard the door click open. But I think he pretty much knows what happened."

"Well, do you want a relationship with Les?" She asked simply, putting a hand on top of mine. "Or do you want to try one with Tank?"

"I know that Tank and I would never work. He is still in love with Lula, and I think that with me it was just one of those comforting things with me. Remember when he and I almost…you know…a couple months ago."

"Oh, yeah." She whispered. "Well, I think you should just take it one step at a time. Let Les stay with you tonight, it's not like you have to have sex with him. Ranger and I had slept together dozens of time without doing anything before we got together. Les is a good guy. Trust that he isn't going to try to hurt you."

I wrapped my arms around my head and fell face first onto the mattress, groaning. "Why can't I just be normal?"

"Honey, "Steph said, gently running her fingers through my hair. "You are normal. You have just had a really bad experience, and it's going to take you a bit to heal from it."

"I know." I sat up, rubbing my eyes. "I just want to be better now."

"You are getting better. You have been able to do things recently that you never would have been able to do." She took my hand in hers. "Now, go back to your room and go to sleep. If he shows up and it's too uncomfortable then let him know. He's a great guy and will do whatever he can to make you more comfortable."

I thanked her and headed back to my room. Grabbing my clothes and bathroom gear, I headed for the en suite bathroom. I took a quick hot shower; scrubbing, shaving and polishing myself within an inch of my life. Slipping on my shortie pajamas I flipped off the light and curled into bed. Sleep found me quickly, and left me dreamless.

I was startled awake as the bed shifted and a large form curled up next to me. At first, I wasn't sure what was going on but the moment I smelled Les cologne I smiled. He curled up next to me, his front to my back; wrapping his arms around me. He kissed my hair and sighed before I felt his body began to slack.

"What took so long?" I asked sleepily. Les jumped slightly.

"Sorry, Gabi. I was trying not to wake you." He whispered, smoothing my hair away from my face. "Bobby and Diesel were having issues. It's all straightened out though."

"Good." I snuggled into him, wrapping his arm tighter around me and sighing. "Good night, Les."

"Good night, Gorgeous." He kissed my cheek and we cuddled until I fell asleep, this time filled with beautiful dreams.


	21. Chapter 20

***All J.E.'s. Not Mine. ***

**AUTHOR's NOTE:**

**Sorry it's taking longer to get to the action then I had originally anticipated. It seems like Les and Gabi have other things on their plates. Hopefully this will satisfy your needs for now...keep on reviewing its great inspiration. **

**R.A.**

Les POV

I woke with Gabi sleeping soundlessly in my arms. My heart beat kicked up a notch as she stirred, snuggling deeper into my arms. God, I loved this woman. She was everything that I could ever want; strong, sexy, smart, and funny and the biggest bad-ass I know. This whole situation was pretty FUBAR, but I trust my team to find that bastard and put him out of commission.

"Mmmrph." Gabi murmured as she twisted in my arms and nuzzled her face against her chest. My arms found their place around her again, as I buried my face in her hair. "Oh, Les." She whispered into my chest as she pulled her arm around my neck and pulled my face to hers. I am pretty sure that she is still asleep, but I am not strong enough to pull away from her. Her mouth gently pressed against my own, covering them with soft feather light kisses. I moaned quietly, wrapping my arms tightly around her as I deepened the kiss. She followed suit, winding her fingers into my hair and pulling me closer to her. Our tongues dueled one another sensuously, as our legs entwined.

Her hips tilted towards mine, sending a rush through my body. I knew I have to stop this, but I really didn't want to. Shit. I thought. I have to stop this.

"Gabi." I whispered my voice strained and scratchy from our mini-make out session. "Wake up Gabi."

Her eyes flew open, as she was about to pull me into another kiss. "Shit." She whimpered, pulling away quickly and sitting up at the side of the bed. "I'm so sorry."

I pulled her back into bed next to me, winding my arm back around her. "Don't even think about being sorry."

"It's embarrassing." She finally said, quietly.

"If anyone should be embarrassed, it's me. " I kissed her hair.

"What are you talking about?" She turned and looked at me over her shoulder.

"I knew you were sleeping, and I didn't stop you right away. In fact, I kind of had an internal struggle whether or not to wake you up or see how far you would take things." I smiled the quirky smile that she always seemed to like. "So…I'm sorry."

"Ugh!" She groaned, pulling the covers up over her head.

"Well, I am going to have to get up and get ready. I have to start my shift soon, and I want to take a shower and get some food. Wanna join me?"

"No!" she whined, wrapping the sheet tighter against her. "I am going to stay in bed for a little bit."

"Suit yourself. You know where I will be if you need me." I pulled back the sheet and kissed her gently on the lips. "Later, Gorgeous."

GABI's POV

Oh, how utterly embarrassing! I thought, as I smashed my pillow against my face. I can't believe I just molested Les in my sleep. I slowly sat up and pulled the pillow off my face and got off the bed. I could hear Les singing softly in the shower, and it made me smile. Les was funny, sexy, smart and caring. I could see myself falling more in love with him then I think I already am.

"Aaarg!" I groaned, pulling my hair tie out and shaking my hair down. "Why can't I just have a normal relationship?" I opened the closet doors and searched through the clothes that I had unpacked yesterday. It wasn't much, but it was enough to get me through a week or so without washing. Hopefully it wouldn't be that long. I pulled out a pair of jeans, a gray v-neck stretchy t-shirt and some super cushiony socks. I had a feeling that there would be no real need for shoes today, so why bother. Putting my ear to the bathroom, I listened to see whether or not the shower was still running. I could still hear Les singing softly to himself, but wasn't sure to what stage his bathing was at. With my hands bracing on either side of my head and my ear clamped tightly against the door I stood, slowing my breathing to get a better listen. This, of course, was the moment that Les whipped open the door causing me to fall into his wet naked chest.

"Well, if I knew you were coming to join me I would've stayed in longer."He said, steadying me on my feet.

"I wasn't going to join you." I grumbled, embarrassed to be caught snooping. "I wanted to see whether or not you were still in the shower. I have to use the bathroom."

"Okay, Gorgeous." He patted my butt as he stepped aside. "It's all yours."

I grabbed my clothes and headed into the bathroom, quickly doing my business and getting dressed. When I came out Les was gone. I ran my brush through my waist long hair and left it down, before heading down to the kitchen to get some breakfast. The smell of fresh coffee filled the entire house and made my mouth water. I thundered down the stairs and slid (literally, these socks were slippery on the hardwood floor) into the kitchen.

"Good morning, Gabi!" Ram said, pulling out a mug and filling it with coffee. "What do you want to eat? I am making breakfast before I get off my shift. We have bacon, sausage, eggs cooked to order, fruit, toast, oatmeal…you name it…I can make it." He smiled, his bright green eyes glimmering.

"Ram, God bless you." I said as I took the coffee. "How about 2 eggs; over medium, some toast and some fruit?"

"That," He tapped me gently on the nose with his index finger. "I can do." He whipped around and began cracking eggs and warming toast. I knew from previous stake-out conversations that Ram loved to cook. He actually went to culinary school before joining the Marines, but he doesn't let the guys know. He told me that it would make him less of a badass if they found out. Soon, I was sitting at the bar with a plate filled with a delicious breakfast. "There you go, Sexy." He purred, leaning over the counter to watch me eat. I moaned when the first bite hit my tongue. "God, I love it when you do that." He smiled, sighing heavily.

"Shut up, Ram." I teased, smacking his shoulder gently before digging back into my food. By the time I was done, Diesel had staggered his way into the kitchen and plopped down in the seat next to me. He was wearing jeans, and it looked to be nothing else. His hair was a wild mop on top of his head and he looked like he had partied all night long.

"Coffee." He croaked, before slamming his head down onto the countertop.

"What's the matter with you?" I asked, poking at him. "Didn't you get any sleep last night?"

"I can't sleep alone." He grumbled into the countertop. "And y'all won't let me sleep with Steph."

"She is off limits, man." Ram barked. "There is NOT going to be any of that crazy voo-doo shit on our watch."

"How about you, Gabi." Diesel winked at me. "Did you get lonely in your bed last night? Want me to join you tonight?"

"I think that I got it covered." Les growled behind me, startling me and causing my coffee to spill on the counter. Ram quickly grabbed a towel to sop up the mess.

"Well, you let me know if you ever want to take a nap." He winked and sipped the coffee that Ram had placed in front of him.

"I will keep that in mind." I said sarcastically, as Les wrapped an arm around my shoulders and kissed my cheek. "Did we have any activity last night?"

"Nope." He nodded to Ram, who brought him over a cup of coffee. He took a sip and sighed. "Thanks, Ram. Your coffee is the best."

"Steph come down yet?" I asked Ram, as he filled my cup again.

"Yeah, about 0600. She and Bruce ate, and are probably up there taking a nap again. I told her that I would check on her before I went to bed." Ram said, leaning up against the back counter. "She didn't get good sleep last night, something about waiting to hear spring or something. I don't know...she didn't make much sense. She was talking to Ranger this morning. I guess that he and Tank made some good contacts and they are hoping to have at least one of them in custody in the next few days."

"That's good." I let out a sigh. "It's a beautiful place here, but I can't wait to get back home. I have a whole bunch of stuff to replace for my apartment."

"Remember, I get to replace your panties." Les whispered in my ear with a wolfish grin. I smiled and shook my head.

"Panties?" Diesel said. "What happened to your panties?"

"Someone broke into my apartment and trashed everything I own, including my panties." I explained.

"Nice." Diesel smiled, pulling one eyebrow up slightly. "Can I help too?"

Les growled soften and tightened his fists at his side. "I think that we can handle it." I said, leaning back and rubbing my hand down Les' back. His stance softened.

"I have to get going." Les said, never losing eye contact with Diesel. "I have to check the perimeter, before checking the rest of the security in the house. Ram is going to be sleeping, but Bobby is awake. He will be here if you need anything."

"Les, I am a big girl. I can handle sitting on my ass doing nothing." I rolled my eyes. "Anyways, I think I saw Bobby carrying in an Xbox last night. I think I am going to hit him up."

Les chuckled and kissed the top of my head. "Stay away from Diesel." He whispered. "He has a way with women, and can get you do to things you didn't realize you were doing until it's too late."

"I don't have to make women do anything." Diesel said, sipping his coffee. "They do it on their own."

"Les, it's okay. I am pretty sure that I can manage." I stood and put both hands on his chest, keeping him from jumping on Diesel. "Plus, he is not my type. It's not going to be an issue." I winked at him, which made him smile. "Go and keep us safe, Superman." Les cocked his eyebrows at me questioningly. "Ranger is Batman. That would make you…"

"Robin?" Diesel interrupted.

"NO!" I cried, reaching back and smacking the back of Diesel's head. "Shut up, Diesel!"

Les shook his head and walked away, the door whooshing gently behind him. I turned and looked at Diesel, my hands firmly planted at my hips. Ram was just watching us silently, drinking his coffee.

"Why do you have to antagonize him?" I asked.

"Because it's so much fun." Diesel smiled. "Plus, I like getting you riled up. You're sexy when you get frustrated."

"Let's get something straight." I said, stalking up to him and poking him in the chest as I spoke. "I am not interested in a sexual relationship with you. You seem like a nice, fun guy, but I have enough drama in my life. I do NOT need to add another person in the mix."

"So, does that mean that when I get this guy you would go out with me?" He waggled his eyebrows and leaned towards me. The sweet smell of Christmas filled my senses, his eyes boring into mine. Damn he was hot. I thought. Why does he smell so good? It's like warm gingerbread, cinnamon, pine and cream cheese icing all mixed together. I wanted to taste his skin, wondering if it was as good as he smelled. I licked my lips, my mouth watering suddenly for iced sugar cookies.

"God, you're killing me here." He whispered, leaning so that his mouth was millimeters away from my ear. "I would let you taste, but I am very addictive."

"Shit." I whispered. "I have to go." I turned to Ram as I made to walk out the door. "Ask Bobby to come and see me in my room when you see him."

Ram just nodded. I was embarrassed, and could feel my face getting hot and turning bright red. I ran up the stairs to my bedroom, slamming the door behind me. Deciding to take a shower, I gathered my stuff and headed into the bathroom. It still smelled like Les, which made my nether regions ache, and my pulse hitch up a notch. Groaning, I reached into the shower and turned it to scalding. Stripping down I realized that this wasn't going to work. I needed to burn off some of this heat, not add to it. Sighing, I flipped off the water and walked into my bedroom to change into something I could run in.

"Holy Shit!" A deep voice bellowed, startling me. I turned to see Bobby standing in front of my bedroom door. His mouth was open and he seemed frozen where he stood.

"Bobby!" I screamed, reaching for the closest thing I could to cover myself. This just so happened to be a pillow off the bed. "Shit! Close the door!" I could hear footsteps rumbling up the steps. Bobby, being flustered, quickly kicked the door shut with his foot and slapped his hand over his eyes.

"Shit. Gabi, I'm sorry." He stuttered. "Ram told me you wanted me to come see you. I knocked but you didn't answer. I got worried that maybe something was wrong so I came in. Fuck, Gabi…Shit!"

"What the hell is going on in there?" Ram's voice bellowed through the door. I could hear the handle of the door twisting.

"NO!" I screamed. "Ram don't open the door!" It was too late. Ram stood, slightly to the left of Bobby with the door wide open, gaping at me. "FUCK!" Keeping the pillow securely in front of me I side-stepped my way towards the bed and grabbed the blanket ripping it off and wrapping it around myself. "Jesus! You two make me think that you have never seen a naked woman before."

"Gabi." Ram's voice was gruff and strained. "I…I…know where your tat ends now." He smirked before ducking out of the room and stomped his way down the hallway. I walked up yelled down the hallway to Ram describing what horrible death he was going to be dealt before slamming the door and peeling Bobby's hand off his face.

"I…I…I didn't know you were going to be naked." Bobby said, taking a few deep breaths.

"Bobby you have seen me pretty much naked when you have patched me up. This shouldn't be a big deal." I patted his shoulder and pointed to a chair. "Sit."

He sat and looked up at me. "Yeah, but I only pay attention to the wounds that I am patching up…not the rest of you." He gulped loudly. "This isn't good. Les is going to kill me. Shit, I should kick my own ass." He lowered his head into his lap with a grunt of frustration.

I grabbed the running stuff I wanted to put on and slipped into the bathroom. Getting dressed quickly, I grabbed a hair tie and walked back out to my bedroom. "Bobby, it's all good. You just startled me." He lifted his head and stared at me for a moment before slamming it back down into his lap.

"Shit. I think the image of your nakedness is burned into my brain forever. I can't even look at you without seeing you naked now." He groaned.

I laughed, crouching down in front of him and putting my hand on either side of his face. "You could always let me see you naked. It might make you feel better about seeing me?" I winked at him before kissing him gently on the cheek. "Or you could help me kick Ram's ass?"

"I will think about the me getting naked thing, but I can definitely help you kick Ram's ass." He smiled and sighed, looking a lot more comfortable. "He wanted me to come and see you, said you asked for me?"

"Yeah, I saw you bringing up an Xbox last night and wanted to know if we could play." I stood up and grabbed my sneakers and slipped them on my feet. "But right now I need to run. Wanna come with me?"

"Yeah." He said, looking down at his black CAT boots. "Let me go change."

He slipped out of my room and was back wearing sweatpants, a t-shirt and sneakers before I could blink. We headed down the steps, grabbing a couple bottles of water from the fridge.

"Where you two going?" Diesel asked, still sitting at the counter drinking (god only knows what number cup) coffee.

"We are going for a run. There's a trail that runs through the property within the security line." Bobby said, pocketing the bottles.

"Can I come?" Diesel asked, standing up. I surveyed the bare chest and feet.

"You might want to put some clothes on." I said, but he was already gone. I could hear him stomping up the steps and down the hall. "I guess that we should wait for him, huh?" Bobby just shrugged.

"Let's get suited up just in case." Bobby reached behind the counter into a drawer and grabbed a tracker, which he looped into my hair before twisting it into a bun. Then he pulled out three guns, two of which he holstered on himself the third he attached to a holster that he had grabbed from the same drawer for me. "Here take this too." He handed me my cell phone.

"Let's rock!" Diesel said, clamoring down the steps. I poked Ram and told him that we were running. Les is heading towards the house now, so Steph won't be here all alone."

We stepped out into the cool mid-morning air and stretched before heading down a path to the left of the garage. It wound through the woods, over rolling hills and down stiff embankments. We must have run about five miles before heading back towards the house. Suddenly, Diesel stopped and slammed a hand into my chest stopping me in my tracks.


	22. Chapter 21

****Nothing is mine…except for Gabi. I wish they were, but JE has them all.****

"What the hell, Diesel?" I yelled, smacking his shoulder.

"Shhhh." He said, putting a finger to his lips. We all stood still listening to the woods, not hearing anything but birds and the rustling of leaves by little critters. Diesel broke the silence. "Shit! Get her to the car. I will pop back to the house to get Steph. There are 6 of them." With that he was gone.

"What the fuck!" I said under my breath. Bobby quickly wrapped an arm around my waist and picked me up before running full speed into the woods. "Bobby, I can run you don't need to carry me."

After about 200 yards, he slowed, stopped and then crouched down, setting me on my ass in the leaves. He picked up his phone and dialed Les. "FUCK!" He whispered. "He didn't answer." He tried Ram. "FUCK!" Bobby said louder. He dialed one more number, this one picked up. My heart was pounding heavily in my chest. Fear, anger and paranoia filled me.

"Ranger, we have trouble. They found the safe house. Diesel is getting Steph and Bruce. Les and Ram aren't answering their phones. I have Gabi, but we are in the woods." He paused listening for a moment. "We went out running through the path on the property." Another pause before he hung up. "I have to go check out the house." He stood up and looked around as he pulled out one of his guns.

"I am coming with you." I said, standing, unholstering my gun as well.

"NO!" He said, pushing me back down. "You need to stay right where you are."

"I can't just sit here." I said, pushing his hand away. "I need to help you. I can help you. I am not Steph! I can fight, shoot and kick ass."

"Fuck." Bobby whispered. "Fine. You have to stay behind me. Don't shoot first, unless you have to. We don't want to alert them to us if we can help it."

I nodded and we began silently running through the woods, off the trail, towards the house. When we got there, there were two large blue vans parked in front of the house. There were three men standing in front of someone lying on the ground near the front door. There was yelling coming from the house. We froze when we heard a gunshot and then laughter. I knew that laugh. That was Joe.

"Fuck." Bobby said, crouching down again.

"What's the plan Bobby?" I asked. He turned and looked at me, the blank face slammed into place.

"I have to get you out of here." He said coolly, before turning back towards the mound of black lying on the ground. "Then I will come back and get the Les and Ram."

"Bobby, I can't let you leave Ram and Les. We can go in and get them together. There are only six of them, you take three…I'll take three." I smiled, popping him in the shoulder. "Trust me. You know I am just as good as you guys are."

"If anything happens to you..." Bobby started. I put up my hand.

"Then it would be my owned damned fault. Plus, we have to make sure that Diesel got Steph and Bruce out okay." I whispered. Bobby nodded and scanned the house.

"There is a bathroom on the third floor with a window we can sneak into." He pointed towards the side of the house almost engulfed by trees. "There's a tree that is within a few feet of the window, and I know that no one is up there. Diesel locked us out of it last night, and I was going to climb up and unlock the door from the outside today."

"Okay." I looked up at the tall tree that was visible around the house. "Climb the tree, hop into the bathroom, and unlock the door. Easy enough."

"I will sneak around to the back door. I need you to make sure that Steph and Bruce are gone. If they are, make your way down stairs. If you find Les or Ram and they are by themselves and hurt take them to the basement. There's a safe room down there."

I nodded and looked Bobby in the eyes. "Be safe Bobby." I kissed his cheek. He grabbed me, wrapping a hand around my neck and pulling me close to him with our foreheads touching.

"Shit, Gabi. You stay safe. Don't worry about anything but Steph and Bruce and yourself. If you come across anyone and you CAN help, then help. Don't put yourself in danger." He sighed and kissed me gently on the lips. "Stay safe." With that he bolted silently through the woods to the back door.

I made my way to the tree on the side of the house. I had plenty of cover from the woods and no one was on that side of the house. I quickly climbed the tree, and made my way towards the window. There was no one in the bathroom, thankfully, and the window was easy to open. I slipped in, unlocking the door quietly and listening for anyone in the hallway. I heard nothing close, but still opened the door a fraction of an inch to peer down the darkened third floor hall. I made my way down the hall to the steps, unsure exactly how I was going to make it downstairs without being noticed. I could hear shouting and then a loud "CRACK" before a pain filled scream filled the house. It wasn't a female voice, so hopefully they didn't have Steph. Shit. I thought. That means they have Les or Ram. I didn't know who it was that was laying on the ground outside in the front yard. The training that I had, pushed the anxiety that was swelling into my chest back as I pushed towards the stairs.

Peeking around the edge of the stairs I looked down. There was no one there. I had to make it down one flight of steps to check on Steph before I could go and see if the guys needed help. I crept quickly and quietly down the steps, peeking before I was visible by the floor before running towards the door to Steph's room. I listened to the door, heard nothing and quietly slipped inside. I scoured the room, looking for any sign of a struggle. Steph and Bruce were gone. I flipped open my phone and quietly dialed Tank.

"Speak!" Tank's voice boomed through the phone.

"Shhh." I hissed. "Do you guys have Steph and Bruce?"

"Shit, Gabi. Are you okay?" Tank whispered into the phone. "Yeah, Diesel brought them to Haywood. Where are you? Did you guys get out okay?"

"I am sitting in Steph's bedroom. Les and Ram are still MIA. Bobby is sneaking into the back and I snuck in through the third story bathroom window. We are outnumbered, and I am pretty sure out-gunned. Are you on your way?"

"We have a chopper coming in now. It will still take us a good 30 minutes to get there. Can you keep yourself hidden until we get there?" I could hear the fear in his voice.

"I can't just sit here doing nothing. They have one of the guys...and are torturing them from the sounds of it." Just as I whispered that, a loud blood curdling scream resounded throughout the house. "I have to go help them."

"Gabi!" Tank yelled into the phone. "Stay put! We are on our way!"

"I can't." I whispered. "I'm sorry." I clicked the phone shut and silenced it. I had found a .38 and a large stash of ammo in the bedside table. With a big sigh I crossed myself before slipping back out the bedroom door towards the sounds of the screaming.

Once again, I crept down the steps stopping when I reached the landing right before the first floor. I could see three large men standing in the kitchen. One I knew instantly was Joe, another looked like Joe and more than likely was his cousin Mooch, the last one made my blood freeze….it was Q. Mooch stepped to the side and I saw Les, strapped to a chair beaten and bloody. I gasped covering my mouth with my hand and sinking to the floor.

"You aren't so tough now, Thug." Joe snarled, punching Les in the face. "Where's my wife, you stupid spick?"

"Fuck you." Les growled, spitting blood onto the floor.

"Where's that little bitch of yours?" Joe asked, flicking open a knife and waving it in front of Les' face. "Do you think she is still going to fuck you if you look like hamburger?"

"Go fuck yourself." Les spat out again. Joe clicked his tongue and shook his head as he pulled out a lighter and began running the flame against the blade.

"No." He smiled. "I think I will just fuck your little bitch. Q here is going to share, and you know he knows how to treat a woman good."

Q laughed, sending ice through my veins. I felt blackness start to cloud my vision. STOP IT! I screamed to myself in my head. Les needs me. I have to get him out of there. I pulled myself to my feet and with my gun at the ready made my way down the stairs.

"I'm not going to tell you again." Joe growled at Les, watching the blade get red in the lighter's blaze. "Where are they?"

"How the fuck would I know?" Les scowled, glaring at Joe through slitted eyes. "You have me fucking tied down to this god-damned chair!" He jumped his body, making the chair hop barely off the ground.

"We could always bring in your little fuck-buddy out there. He's in pretty bad shape. Wouldn't tell us anything." Joe pointed outside and tilted his head to Mooch. "Bring him in." Turning back to Les he brought the heated blade to Les leg, dragging it slowly across the black cargoes and slicing through his skin. Les gritted his teeth and tried to suppress an agonizing scream. "Oh, I am liking this little game of mine. I just hope that you tell me what I want to know soon…otherwise I will just have to start killing people." Joe's voice was cold and sinister.

Les just grunted, panting in pain. His eyes were black with anger, and hurt. Blood was pouring out of his nose, lip and eyebrow and various cuts on his handsome face. His arms were bruised and scraped and his pant leg was slowly filling with blood from his new leg wound. Joe and Q were the only ones in the kitchen, as Mooch had gone outside to gather what I am assuming was Ram. I crept closer to the kitchen hiding behind a buffet table that was leaning against the wall by the doorway.

Peering around the corner, I scoped out the room. Joe was standing to the right of Les, while Q was sitting on top of the counter, gently swinging his legs. "That cousin of yours is sure taking his time, Morelli." Quinn laughed. "Do you think that he got a little excited and got rid of him already?"

"Shit." Joe said out loud. "You never know with that fucker." Joe slipped the knife, which had cooled back to its original color, back into its holder on his thigh. He picked up a walkie-talkie that was strapped to his belt and clicked it on. "Mooch. Where the fuck are you?"

Static responded.

"Mooch!" Joe yelled into the unit.

"Fuck man." Mooch's voice scrambled out of the device. "We are coming. This fucker is huge. You ever try to carry a fucking giant!"

"Hurry up!"Joe growled back. Joe looked to Quinn, shrugging his shoulders before turning back to Les. "So, what's it gonna be?"

"I think you should untie me and see what a real man does in a fight." Les stared at him with eyes black as pitch.

"Yeah…." Joe and Quinn laughed. "That's not going to happen."

Taking a deep breath, I knew that I didn't have a lot of time before Mooch and the others were going to be coming back into the kitchen. If I aimed right and timed it better, I could take both of them out. One more deep breath and I stood, whipping myself around the corner with both guns drawn. I fired both guns at once. The first bullet ripped through Joe's shoulder, flinging him back and onto the ground. The second hit Q square in the chest, flipping him back over the counter and slammed him onto the floor.

"Shit, Gabi!" Les yelped, flinching as I fired.

I ran to him, working quickly to untie him. I had his ankles undone and was working at his wrists when I felt my body go stiff and then everything went black.

Les POV

I pulled against my restraints as Gabi slumped slowly to the floor. Q had reached his hand around the counter on the floor and zapped her in the ankle with a taser. She stiffened before her eyes rolled back into her head and she fell back heavily onto the floor.

"Gabi!" I yelled, struggling against the binding on my hands. My feet were free, so I could probably use that to loosen the rest of my restraints. Putting my heels onto the bottom rung of the chair I stood up, ripping the duct tape away from the edges of the chairs, leaving only the tape wrapped heavily around my hands. Seeing Joe stir and Q slowly standing up, I leaned down and covered her body with my own. There was no way that they were going to get to her without killing me first.

"Nice." Joe said, wincing at the pain from the gunshot in his shoulder. "Now we have at least one of them. Q, pick her up and carry her to the van. We have to get moving before the rest of the fuckers show up."

Q leaned down to pick her up, and I kicked out towards him. He pulled out his gun aiming it at my face.

"I am not going to let you take her, you fucking bastard." I yelled, flipping over so that I was facing him. "You are going to have to kill me first."

"That is not a problem, asshole." Q smiled, and pulled the trigger. I felt the bullet hit my chest and rip through the vest, lodging inside me. I gasped the pain worse than anything I had ever felt. He reached down to pull me away, but I still fought. I can't let him take her. I knew exactly what he was going to do.

My body felt heavy, my eyes slowly closing. I watched helplessly as Q dragged my body off of hers and slung her over his shoulder . I tried to scream, to tell them to stop. To beg them to put her down. Nothing came out of my mouth. Darkness slowly pulled me towards it.

**AUTHOR's NOTE:**

*****Please don't hate me…I am going to be adding the next chapter soon. I know that everyone is on the edge of their seats about Les. Questions like: Where the hell is Bobby? Is Ram okay? What about Diesel? I will try to answer them as soon as I post the next chapter. Once again, review, review review. ****


	23. Chapter 22

***Once again...only Gabi is mine…the rest are all J.E.'s**

**AUTHOR's NOTE:**

****Okay, so I know that the last chapter's ending sucked…sorry. I am posting as quickly as I can. I don't know when the next chapter is going to be up...Hopefully within the next day or so…but I had to make sure that you all got through this scene. Please keep reading and reviewing…we are getting close to the end…but obviously we have a few loose ends to tie up. ****

Bobby's POV

I crept around to the back door, watching Gabi scale the tree on the side of the house. I am not sure if letting her help was a good idea, and I was pretty sure that I was going to get my ass handed to me…if we survived. Just as I was about to sneak a peek into the kitchen the door slammed open. I ducked down under the wooden steps and watched as a set of legs stomped down them. It was Mooch. He was walking towards the front of the house where the other three guys were standing around either Les or Ram. Poking my head out from the steps, when Mooch was around the corner, I snuck a peek at the kitchen. Morelli and another guy were standing around Les, who was attached to chair. He looked like he was beat to shit, but still alive. They were asking him questions about Steph and Gabi.

The other guy, who I found out, was Q, asked about Mooch. They were communicating with walkie-talkies and were waiting for him to bring Ram around. Shit, I have to get Ram so we can get Les out of the kitchen. I ran back to the woods, sneaking around to the front of the house. I could take out the four from here and bring Ram back to help get Les. It was less likely to have injury to the three of us, if I could do it quickly. I knew that Ram had a silencer tucked into the SUV, which was parked in the garage near the front of the house. Running full-tilt I made it to the garage and snuck in through the back door, punching in my security code so the alarm wouldn't be triggered.

I made my way back towards the front of the house and knelt in a group of fallen trees. I wasn't the best shot. It definitely wasn't what got me hired at Rangeman. I was an Army medic, with full training in combative skills…but I was far from any of the other guys. Taking a deep breath I aimed at Mooch who was currently standing over top of Ram's still figure. I fired, quickly recovering before firing three more times. All four were kill shots. I smiled, feeling proud that I had done it, before I watched their bodies slump to the ground.

I made my way over to Ram who was barely conscious, with a single gunshot wound to the back.

"Ram, stay with me, man." I whispered, slumping him over me and carrying him across my shoulders back to the safety of the woods.

"Les…shit, Bobby...they got Les." He whispered, gasping for breath.

"I know." I did a quick survey of his injury. He wasn't in good shape but would manage for a while. Stopping the bleeding, I patted him on the shoulder, handing him one of my guns. "Stay put. I'm gonna get Les. Gabi is hiding somewhere in the house. Ranger is on his way with backup."

"What about Steph and the baby?" Ram whispered, closing his eyes in pain.

"Diesel got them out." I hated to tell Ram something that I wasn't one-hundred percent sure of, but I had to keep him calm. "Don't go to sleep, and wait here. I will come get you soon. Do you have your phone?"

Ram nodded and reached into his pocket, taking out his cell. "Good. Call Ranger and report our situation. Tell them to hurry." Ram nodded before flipping open his phone. I bolted from the trees, stopping at the bodies to strip them of their guns. I knew that I wasn't going to need too much hardware, but there was no way I was going in with just one gun.

I headed back towards the garage. It would be easier for me to take them out from within the house, and then try to bottleneck them through the small kitchen door. The house was silent, except for a soft gasping sound. Slowly making my way towards the kitchen I found it empty. Les was lying on his side, blood pooling around his chest. Joe and Q were nowhere in sight.

"Shit, Les!" I whispered loudly, running up to him and tipping him onto his back. His face was pale and his eyes were shut. There was a gunshot wound in his chest that hadn't broken through the Kevlar, but it looked like a close range shot, because of the burn marks around the wound. I am worried that he has a punctured. I shook him gently, slapping him on the cheek. I knew he was breathing, I could tell by the soft gasping and sucking sound. I smacked him again harder. "LES!" I yelled.

He opened his eyes slowly. "Gabi." He whispered, reaching for my shoulder. "Have Gabi."

"Shit!" I cried, trying to keep him conscious while I ripped open his shirt and Kevlar to better assess his wound. The Kevlar had stopped the bullet, but the force of it alone could do real damage and there was the risk of a punctured lung. I flipped open my phone, cradling between my shoulder and my chin while I worked. I had to stabilize his lung and stop the bleeding in his leg.

"Speak." Ranger's voice barked through the phone.

"Shit, Boss…" I gritted out. "We have a problem!"

"Report." I could almost feel his teeth gritting.

"Ram and Les are down. Gunshots. Ram in the back, he is stable, but won't be for long. Les…shit, Carlos…he's bad. He took one in the chest. Kevlar stopped it, but I think he has a punctured lung. There is also a pretty nasty gash on his thigh..he has lost a lot of blood, but thankfully it missed the femoral artery."

"Gabi?" Ranger asked his voice strained and angry.

"They got her." My voice hitched and I swallowed hard to suppress the despair rising in my chest. "I tried. I got the other four, but Joe and Q escaped. What's your ETA?"

"We are landing in the yard in 3 mins. We will drop and then load Les and Ram for the hospital."

"Roger." My hands were feverishly working on Les, trying to keep him alive. "Fuck…Carlos see if you can make it sooner."

I heard Ranger yelling to the pilot, more than likely it was Binkie, before he answered. "We are above you. Do you have Ram with you too?"

"No. He's in the woods in front of the house." I flipped my phone shut, needing both hands to stop the blood from pouring from his chest. "Don't even think about fucking dying on me, Santos!" I yelled at him, tears forming in my eyes. "You can't die…I saw Gabi naked today. What cha going to, huh? Just let me see her like that and just let it go?"

Les' eyes focused in on mine, before he smiled. "I am gonna kick your ass, Brown." He whispered before the kitchen door burst open and Ranger ran inside.

Ranger's POV

I stopped dead in my tracks at the sight of my cousin bleeding out on the floor. I forced my feet to move as I crashed onto the floor next to him.

"Is he gonna make it?" I asked, my eyes flying from Les's leg to his chest wound, to Bobby who was working up a sweat trying to save him.

"Honestly…I don't know." Bobby shrugged as his black medic bag thunked next to him, and Cal joined him. "He's semi-conscious."

"Les." I put a hand on either side of his face. Nothing. I smacked him gently. "LES!" I yelled. Les slowly opened his eyes and smirked sideways.

"Hey, cuz." He said, his voice teetering. "What's up?"

"Fuck, Les." I shook my head, trying to calm my heart. I had been in combat, rough combat filled with blood, guts and gore. This…Les…was family. I had promised my Abuela Rose that I would take care of him. I took his hand. "What do you know, Les?"

"They have Gabi." He swallowed, wincing at the pain. "She shot Morelli in the shoulder…Q took one in the chest, but his vest stopped it." He gasped as Cal hit something sensitive. Les' grip on my hand tightened. "They…Shit!" He gasped, his body tightening, teeth clenching. "Fuck! Carlos…you have to get her. I can't die knowing…"

"YOU AREN'T GOING TO DIE!" I ordered him. "We will get her. You need to get better. She is going to need you."

"But if…" He began again.

"Don't." I said softly, closing my eyes. "You will be fine."

He nodded slowly, closing his eyes again in pain. "Ram?"

"He's good man." Bobby said, patting his shoulder. "Took one in the back, but it's fairly superficial."

Les nodded again.

"Let's roll." Bobby said. Tank picked him up bridal style and we followed them out to the hopper, which was ready to take off. Ram smiled weakly as Les held out his hand to him as they shook.

"Ranger!" Bobby yelled from the chopper as it was about to take off. "She has a tracker on her…in her hair." I nodded and waved to Binkie to take off.

"Hector!" I yelled back towards the house. Hector out of the house and stood on the kitchen steps. "Pull up Gabi's tracker and meet us in the garage." He nodded and escaped back into the house. I turned towards Tank. "They must have just cleared the house when we touched down. Let's get into the SUV and start down the road. Hector can pull up the co-ordinates on the move." Tank nodded as we walked towards the garage. Hector came running out followed by Cal, Hal, Junior and Zero. We all piled tightly into the SUV, checked out gear and headed out. Tank was behind the wheel, I was riding shot gun. Hector, Cal and Hal sat in the middle seat and Junior and Zero took the back. The ride was silent, with all eyes glued to the surrounding tree line.

"Boss, I think I picked up her signal." Hector spoke in Spanish. "I'll pass them onto the trucks GPS."

Gabi's POV

I woke up with my head throbbing and my hands tied behind my back.

"Morning." Q's face came into view. "We were wondering when you were going to wake up."

"Fuck you." I spat at him, pulling at my restraints. "Let me go!"

"Oh, of course what was I thinking?" Q's voice thick with sarcasm. His hand came down on my face hard, and I could feel blood beginning to pool in my mouth. "You stupid bitch! You ruined my fucking life. I am not going to let you just get up and walk out of here."

I looked around at where I was being held. It looked like a small cabin. I was laying in a small living room with a small sofa, TV and an end-table. There was a galley-kitchen to the left and a small Formica table in a small dining area by an outside door. To the right were two doors, one was open revealing a small full bathroom. The other I can only assume was a bedroom.

The other door opened and Joe stumbled out, his shoulder bandaged heavily and his face pale. He looked at me and scowled. "Strip the bitch. I am sure they low-jacked her ass."

Q smiled, before whipping out a large hunting knife. "With pleasure." He reached out for me, but I kicked at the knife in his hand sending it flying somewhere in the kitchen. I scrambled to get to my feet, but the effects of the taser and my hands tied behind my back caused me to crash onto my shoulder a few feet away. Q threw himself at me, flipping me onto my stomach and sitting on my legs.

"You're gonna pay for that little stunt, Gabi." He growled into my ear, sending a wash of fear through my body. I knew how he was going to make me pay. "Fight again and I will break your legs. I don't need them to do what I want to do to you."

Flipping me over, he sat on my thighs, leaning down and ripping the t-shirt in half.

"You've been working out." Q smiled, running his hand down my chest and over my stomach. "Too bad I won't be able to enjoy it for too long." He quickly stripped me of my running pants and searched them for Trackers. His eyebrow hitched when he began searching my bra and panties. "Nothing." He looked at Morelli. "Do you think they implanted her?"

"I'm not wearing a tracker." I spat. "I was at a fucking safe house you nimrod." Another slap across the face, this one causing stars to burst behind my eyes.

He stood, grabbing me by my arm and dragging me to my feet. "Good, then I can play with you for a bit." He nodded to Joe, who flopped down onto the sofa and flipped on the TV.

"I don't care what you do, just keep it down and keep her alive. Manoso isn't going to hand over Steph if she's dead."

He pushed me into the bedroom, slamming me face down onto the mattress. "Loving the Tats, Gabs." He ran his hand from my shoulder down my back and thighs. "You do this just for me?"

"You know why I did this you sick fuck!" I spat at him, wriggling to get away from his pawing hands.

"That's right…you had quite a few scars from our last…playtime…didn't you." I could hear the smile in his voice. "This time I can't promise that I will be as gentle, but it's just me and the cop in there…so I get more time with you alone."

He grabbed my restrained hands by the wrists and drug me up the bed until my head was inches from the headboard. "Be still." He ordered as he straddled my waist and unbound my hands with a knife. I could feel the blade cold against the skin of my arm. "I'm going to flip you over, Gabs." He said slowly. "You move and I will kill you. Do you understand?" I nodded as he raised himself and flipped me onto my back, my hands still secured in his. I watched as he grabbed a set of cuffs from his back pocket and slid the knife into the front pocket of his jeans. My brain was working a thousand miles a minute, going through every possible scenario, trying to figure out how to get out of this. I flashed back to the present as he clamped one of the bracelets over my wrist. It's now or never. I thought, taking a deep breath.

I slammed my hips up before jamming my thigh into his groin. He had released my hand to steady himself and recover from the groin shot, but still had hold of the cuffed hand I grabbed at the knife in his pocket. The moment my hand grasped the handle of the knife, I sliced through his upper thigh severing his femoral artery, before pulling it up and slicing his throat. He gasped before falling heavily against me. Blood was everywhere pouring from both wounds, soaking my skin and the bed. I pushed against him to push him off, but the blood and his weight was making it impossible for me to remove his dead body from on top of me.

"Fuck!" I whispered, struggling again to push him off. At 6'7" and well over 300 pounds, Q was not a light-weight by any means. "I didn't think this through. Now, I'm gonna suffocate." I growled, turning my head to the side and slowing my breathing. At least I knew there was a tracker on me...hopefully the guys were on their way.

Tank's POV

"We are less than a mile away." Ranger informed everyone in the SUV. "We are going to pull off and hoof it. It looks like there is a small building about 400 meters north of us. Her tracker is still active, so hopefully she's in there."

My chest ached, and it felt as if I hadn't taken a breath since Gabi hung up on me what seemed like days ago. We quickly exited the vehicle, grabbing our gear before dashing through the woods towards the building. There was a light on above the front door, and what looked like a TV playing in the main section of the house. Cal and Hal stalked up towards the front windows peeking in. Pressing the com gear on his neck, my heart raced when he spoke.

"Got Morelli on the sofa. Looks like shit. No visual on Gabi." Cal's voice was soft, but we all heard.

"Cal, Hal, take the door. Tank and I will second. Hector and Zero go around back and watch the windows." Ranger quietly ordered. Without a sound we got into position. Ranger and I were against the house by the front door, Hal and Cal were primed to kick the door in. Ranger counted with his fingers silently. When he reached three Cal and Hal stormed the door, Ranger and I close on their heels.

"What the fuck!" Joe jumped to his feet struggling to get to his gun, but stopped when he saw four barrels trained on his head and heart.

"Drop it." I growled. Joe slid it gently onto the floor and cursed before raising one arm above his head. "Where's Gabi?" I growled taking a step forward and grabbing him one handed around the neck. His eyes darted to the closed door and then to me.

"If she is hurt…" I started, releasing my grip and watched him fall to the floor gasping. Ranger stared an icy glare at Morelli, flicked open his knife and stalked towards him as I made my way to the bedroom door.

"You and I have some business, cop." Ranger's cold voice echoed off the walls. Morelli was screaming before I opened the door.

Gabi POV

Shit. I thought. He was getting really heavy. We had only been stuck like this for about ten minutes, but it felt like hours. I heard the door slam open and a lot of shouting. Oh, thank Jesus! I thought.

"Help!" I screamed, but not as loud as I had hoped since Q's body was pressing heavily against me. I heard something at the window, but unfortunately I was unable to turn to see. "Fuck me." I croaked, pushing against him again without any luck.

The door swung open, there were three loud stomps and Q's body flew off of me. I stared up at Tank, who looked like he was going to faint.

"Gabi?" He leaned down and checked my pulse. "Fuck…Gabi?"

"Tank." I whispered. My arms, heavy from lack of circulation, lifted up and grasped his arm. Tank sat me on the edge of the bed and began looking over every inch of me.

"Are you hurt anyplace? Where's all this blood from?" He yelled over his shoulder. "Cal get in here with the medic bag!"

"I'm okay." I gasped, taking in big breaths. I think that I was finally going into shock. "I'm okay."

"Cricket, where'd all this blood come from?" Tank asked again, putting my face in his huge hands. Cal came in carrying a large black bag.

"Shit, Gabi." He pulled out some towels and began gently dabbing away at the blood.

"I'm fine. It's his." I pointed to Q's body, the cuff dangling off my wrist.

"Tank!" Ranger's voice echoed through the house. He stood, kissed me gently on the top of the head and stripped off his sweatshirt, handing it to Cal.

"I'll be back." He said to me. "Cal, clean her up and bring her out to the SUV. Zero and Junior are going to help me to cleanup."

Hector came in as Tank walked into the living room. "Queirda, you need help?" He said sitting down next to me.

I nodded as he gently carried me from the bedroom to the small bathroom next door, Cal blocking my view of the room. Tank, Hal, Junior and Zero were surrounding Ranger who was standing, knife in hand over Morelli's body. I buried my head into Hector's chest, not wanting to see exactly what Ranger did to him as we strode into the small room.

Hector placed me gently on the counter next to the sink and turned on the water. Cal, looking through a tall closet next to the door, pulled out a few large towels and tossed Hector a stack of wash cloths. When the water was the right temperature, he soaked the wash cloth and began gently wiping away at the blood which had become thick as it coagulated. The smell was making my stomach roll, and my mouth began to water sickeningly.

"Hector, I think I'm going to be sick." I whispered, grabbing his hand and pushing it aside so I could get down off the counter. Wrapping his arm gently around me he lowered me and held my hair as I threw up. Cal walked out of the bathroom for a moment before returning with a glass of water. Once my stomach was empty, I resumed my position on the counter slowly slipping the glass of water.

"Maybe we should just pop her in the shower really quick." Cal said, rubbing the back of his neck. Hector looked at me for my answer.

"Help me get this off please?" I asked, pushing the cuffs dangling from my wrist. Hector nodded, taking out a key and unlocking it throwing it off in the corner of the bathroom. Cal turned and walked out of the bathroom, Hector helping me down and turning on the water.

"I wait outside." He said softly. I nodded, but grabbed his hand.

"Thank you." I whispered, leaning in and kissing his cheek. He smiled, and ran his hand over my cheek.

"Anytime, Querida." He turned and walked out of the bathroom. I stripped off my blood soaked bra and panties, pulling my hair from the bun that Bobby had twisted it into. The moment the hot water hit my skin, the sobbing began.

****Author's note (again): Thank you all once again for reading this. Your reviews and messages have been a great inspiration to me. I will be posting another chapter soon...so please be patient. I will try to post again within 2 days...if not sooner. Thank you again...I know that this scene was rather anti-climatic (as I think we all wanted more violence), but Q wasn't that experienced...just a douche bag. I will do some sort of fade-back for Ranger so you know what he did to Morelli. Thanks again...and as always...HAPPY READING!**


	24. Chapter 23

****Not mine…all J.E.'s. I just like to play with them.****

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:**

****So, the last two chapters have been fairly intense…I can honestly say that I had some pretty choked up moments while I was writing them. There should only be a few chapters left, unless something happens...they have a life of their own you know...Please remember to leave reviews. I may continue this story if there is enough demand for it. Gabi is my own personal bad-ass…so I may take her out to play again. Enjoy!****

Gabi's POV

My whole body shook with heavy sobs as I stood under the spray of the shower. I rubbed at my skin trying to get the blood off of me, but it seemed to just get worse. The dried blood turned thick and stuck to the hair on my arms. I groaned loudly in between sobs and began frantically scrubbing away with a wash cloth. I could barely see, tears blurring my vision.

A dark hand clasped down on top of my own, making me jump and try to flee.

"Cricket." Tank's voice was soft and low. "Let me help you."

He wiped my face with a wash cloth, clearing my vision. He was standing just outside the shower, his shirt getting soaking wet.

"Tilt your head back, Gabi." He said, again soft and calm. I did, tipping my head into the spray of the water. Tank massaged my scalp, lathering some shampoo that had been sitting on the edge of the shower into my long hair. My sobs had softened to hiccups as he rinsed out the shampoo and poured some soap onto a fresh wash cloth. "Do you hurt anywhere?" He asked, beginning to gently scrub the blood off of my arms and shoulders. I shook my head, staring at his face as he worked.

"Turn around." He ordered softly. I complied again, as he washed my back and legs. When he was done, he gently rinsed me off before turning off the water and wrapping me in a large towel. I stood almost frozen in shock as he toweled me off and slipped his huge sweatshirt over my head. Opening the bathroom door he ushered me out of the cabin, blocking my view again from the mess that was made of Morelli. No one was left in the cabin, but were all standing outside leaning against the SUV.

"All clear." Tank said, opening the door and sliding me into the middle bench of the SUV.

"Cal." Ranger said, and flipped the keys to Tank and motioned towards the vehicle. "Let's go then."

Cal took out a small gray remote and hopped into the SUV next to me, Hector taking the other side. Junior and Hal were squished into the back seat, and Ranger took the passenger side. As we pulled away from the cabin and down the road, Cal turned and pointed the remote towards the house. A loud boom shook the SUV as we rocketed down the road.

"Gabi," Cal reached his arm around me and I snuggled into his chest. "You okay?"

"Yeah." I whispered. "Thank you guys for getting me."

"Querida, we never leave one behind." Hector said, taking my hand in his hand kissing it gently.

I smiled, before I realized that we were missing someone. "Where's Les and Ram…and Bobby?"

Ranger turned around and looked at me, touching his hand to my bare thigh. "They are already at the hospital. We are heading there now."

"Is everyone okay?" I asked, sitting up straight and looking at each of them for any answers.

"Cricket." Tank said. "Bobby is fine. He is there to assist. Ram took a bullet in the back and Les took one in the chest, it didn't penetrate…but he will need surgery."

"No!" I cried, wrapping my arms around my chest and curling my legs up under the sweatshirt. "I did this." I sobbed. "I should have run like Bobby told me to. Are they going to make it?" My eyes filled with tears, and I tried desperately to push them back.

"Ram is good. The bullet didn't hit anything major. Les…well, Gabi…we don't know for sure. We will have to wait and see when we get to the hospital."

"Okay." I said quietly, my mind racing, my heart pounding in my chest. "How far is the hospital?"

"We should be there in 20 minutes." Ranger said, turning back around. I lowered my head to my hands and sobbed, Cal stroking my back gently as Hector grabbed my hand and held it. The rest of the ride was in silence, which I have noticed was becoming more and more common for my transportation. The air was thick with tension, and anxiety.

"Ranger, I think we might have a small problem." Cal said, as we were pulling into town. Ranger turned around and raised his eyebrow. "Boss…she's naked under this sweatshirt."

Feeling suddenly over-exposed, I pulled the hem of the sweatshirt further down my legs. I knew it covered all the good parts, but it still felt like I was sitting here butt ass naked in front of all of them.

"Pull in over there." Ranger told Tank as he pointed towards a Target. Tank pulled up to the door and Ranger hopped out. He returned minutes later with two giant bags in his arms. "Let's head to the hospital. We'll park in the parking garage, and you can get dressed in the SUV. We will stand outside." As he spoke he handed me the bags. We were only minutes away from the hospital, but I knew that I had to start getting tags and things off of the clothes so I could quickly change. I wanted to see Les.

"Here" Cal said, grabbing one of the bags. "I'll get this stuff." He took out a pair of jeans, pulling off the stickers and price tags. "Holy shit, boss." He laughed, looking into the bag. "She can only wear a few of these at a time."

"I figure that she is going to be at the hospital with Les for a while and she isn't going to want to wear the same thing." Ranger grumbled. Cal laughed again, pulling out a pair of pink star and moon pajamas. "Shut up, Cal."

"Thank you, Ranger." I said, pulling off the tags for a soft long sleeve blue v-neck shirt. Thankfully, I had the panties in my bag. I quickly, de-tagged a pair and a pair of super-soft angora socks. "Cal." I whispered. "Do you have a bra in there?" He smiled and pulled out a lacy white bra. I blushed and yanked if from his hands.

The SUV pulled into the parking garage and parked in a corner spot and everyone but me and Tank piled out.

"You okay, Gabi?" He asked as I slipped on the panties and socks.

"Yeah. I think so." I struggled a little slipping on the jeans. "Mostly I was just freaked out. I got him before he could do anything." I slipped my bra on under the sweatshirt before sliding it off and putting the long sleeve shirt on. "Thanks for…well, thanks." I said sheepishly, pulling on the boots that Ranger had gotten me and lacing them up.

"Cricket," He said softly, I looked up. Our eyes were locked, and an expression of pain and anger clouded his usual blank face. "I'm sorry that it took us to long to get there." We stared into one another's eyes for a minute.

"Nothing happened." I whispered, breaking our gaze and sitting forward so that I was closer to him. "I didn't think that it would be as easy as it was…he's been my nightmare for years. It feels like he is still out there…still going to get me. I know that sounds weird…I mean, I know that he's dead. I killed him. I felt the life leave his body." I ran my fingers through my hair, trying to manage not only the wet mess on my head, but the screwed up mess inside of it.

"Gabi, you did good." He grabbed my hand and kissed it gently. "I can assure you that there is no way that he will EVER come after you again. I made sure that he was dead." He tried to suppress a devilish smiled, but failed. I groaned. "Gabi...I'm sorry. I just needed to make sure. Let's get up there to Les and Ram."

I all but jumped out of the SUV, not waiting for Tank (or any of the guys for that matter) to catch up with me. I reached the main lobby and slammed against the information counter.

"I need to know where Lester Santos is." I asked, breathless. The elderly woman slowly clicked keys on the computer.

"I'm sorry ma'am. There is no one here by that name." Her voice was snide as she looked me up and down and then back to the sea of large black clad men at my back.

I whipped around and stuck my hand out to no one in particular. "Cell phone!" My voice was commanding, and Cal quickly slipped his phone off his belt and handed it to me. I dialed Bobby's cell phone and waited impatiently as it rang. Of course...he didn't answer. He was in a hospital. "Damnit!" I cried out, almost slamming the phone to the ground. Cal quickly grabbed my wrist and unlodged his cell phone from my grip.

"I just got this phone." He laughed, pulling me into a hug. "Gabi, remember we use aliases when we are in the hospital. Ranger will go and check it out. He's everyone's medical power of attorney."

Ranger was at the desk already, talking quietly to the elderly lady. She handed him a slip of paper and pointed to a bank of elevators to the left of her station. Ranger thanked her and motioned with his head for us to join them. We all crammed into the elevator, which was no small feat. I ground my teeth as the elevator slowly chugged up four floors. When the doors opened, Ranger pointed towards the general floor.

"Over here." He walked quickly, pointing to a room. "Room 4156." I took off running, bursting in through the door. Bobby was sitting in a lazy boy in the corner of the room, flicking through channels on the television. He popped up the second the door crashed open and ran to me.

"Gabi!" He threw his arms around me. "Are you okay? Did you get hurt? What about Morelli?"

"Bobby!" I shouted, putting my hand up. "Not now. Where's Les and Ram?"

A smile spread across his face. "Well, that's an interesting question."

"Brown!" Ranger barked behind me, causing both Bobby and I to jump a foot off the floor. "Report!"

"Boss, Diesel showed up just as the chopper landed on the heli-pad. Did you know that he has some weird healing power thing? That man is fucking crazy! He pushed his way to Les and laid his hand on his chest and on his leg…and it was just fucking weird. It wasn't like the undead or anything…but you could see the bruising and the tightness in his chest just disappear. His leg was the same way. It's not all closed up or anything, but now it just looks like a flesh wound. Then he hopped over to Ram and did the same thing. The medical staff here is frantically trying to figure out what the hell happened. Right now Les, Ram and Diesel are down getting every test known to mankind."

Ranger just laughed. "Serves that fucker right."

"What the hell are you talking about?" I asked incredulously. "Are you on fucking crack?" I shouted to Bobby. "Where is Les? I have to see him."

There was a loud commotion in the hallway with shouting and banging.

"Get the hell off of me to blasted banshee!" Diesel's voice rang through the tiled halls. "You can't keep me here. I am getting my companions and we are leaving."

I ran out to the hall and ran up to Diesel, who was currently batting off a male nurse trying to keep him seated in a wheel chair. He was wearing a light blue hospital gown with little blue and green squares all over it.

"Diesel, where's Les?" I asked, pushing the male nurse on his ass, and grabbing Diesel by the collar of his gown. Diesel quirked a smile and settled back into the wheelchair as he spoke.

"He's on his way up right now. We were being tortured by these Nazi nurses!" Diesel looked behind me at Ranger. "Work your magic Batman and get us the hell out of here."

"We'll see." Ranger grumbled, heading towards the nurse's station and talking to a very hairy lipped female nurse. The elevator dinged and the doors opened. My head snapped in that direction as the occupant's voice echoed through the hallway.

"I can walk, you know." Les voice was the best sound I had ever heard. I took off in a dead sprint towards the open doors.

"Les!" I cried as I rounded the doors. His face went from surprise to a huge grin as I lunged at him. He too was wearing a light blue hospital gown.

"Ooof!" He grunted as I landed square in his lap.

"OH shit!" I jumped up, gently running my hands along his chest, pushing up the hospital gown off to his shoulder. His chest was fine…perfect actually. Oh shit. I thought. I am getting hot flashes. I quickly put gown back into place and looked up at his face. He was smiling ear to ear, arms outstretched.

"Gabi. I am fine." He pulled me to him, wrapping his arms tightly around me. "I thought…shit, Gabi. I'm so sorry I couldn't keep you from them."

I leaned back and peppered his face with kisses, with tears rolling down my face. "It was me that fucked up the rescue, remember. I thought that you were going to die. Ranger said you were shot in the chest. What happened?"

"Gorgeous. I don't know. Diesel used his voo-doo shit and fixed me all up. I'm stiff, but otherwise I feel great." He put his hand on the back of my neck and pulled me closer to him. "Especially since I know that you were safe." He laid a gentle kiss on my lips. It was hard to kiss when you were almost flat out sobbing.

"Ma'am." A very annoyed male voice said above us. I looked up. The nurse that had been pushing Les' wheelchair looked at the two of us and then the open elevator door. "We need to get out of the elevator. We have someone downstairs waiting to come up."

"That would be Ram." Les said as I stood up. Les tried to stand, but I pushed him back into the chair with a glare.

"Sit!" I ordered, before turning and walking out of the elevator. I stopped and waited for the nurse, and followed behind them. When we reached the guy's room only Tank, Ranger, Bobby and Diesel remained. "Where is everyone?" I asked, as the nurse pushed Les' chair to the middle bed and Les hopped up. I leaned up against his bed, as he snaked his arm around my waist.

"They went to go and get the other SUV from the safe house. We are going to need it. Binkie brought the chopper back." Ranger said, leaning up against the closet door. "We are going to need to clear the safe house."

"When are we going to get out of this place?" Les asked Ranger shifting uncomfortably on his bed, pulling at the gown.

"The best I can do is tomorrow. They need to finish running some tests." Ranger looked slightly amused. "Diesel might be stuck here longer…they don't know what the hell is up with him."

"I wasn't even hurt!" Diesel cried out, crossing his arms over his chest.

"God damned Nazi!" we heard from the hallway. "Touch me again with that fucking needle and I will show you when I can do with it!" Ram's voice echoed though the tiled hall.

Chuckling Tank opened the door as a very overweight, very pissed off female nurse pushing an even more pissed off Ram. His arms were tightly crossed over his chest, and he was scowling. The minute he saw me he jumped out of the chair and scooped me up in a giant hug.

"Holy shit, Ram!" Tank yelled, covering his eyes. Ram's gown is open in the back and he had just flashed poor Tank.

"Sorry man. I forgot about that." Ram almost blushed when he turned his attention back to me. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah." I giggled. "I am fine. How are you feeling?"

He pulled the back of his gown together and sat on his bed before answering. "I feel fine. Except for Nurse Pokes-a-lot sucks at drawing blood." He looked towards the nurse who was still standing, wheelchair at hand, by the door. "You can't hit the broad side of a barn. How the hell did you get to be an RN?" With a huff and a scowl the nurse turned the chair and wheeled it out the room.

"Nice tact." Bobby said, rolling his eyes.

"That crazy bat had to stick me ten times before she got anywhere!" Ram whined rubbing his visibly bruised arm. "I'm a good stick, Bobby…you know that. She was just torturing me."

"Poor baby." I said, running my hand over his arm. It did look like it hurt. "Want me to shoot her?"

Ram laughed and pulled me towards him, kissing me on the top of my head. "No, Darling…I'll get her."

"So, since we're all stuck here for the night...could we at least get some pants?" Les asked. "And maybe something good to eat?"

"Yeah, I'll call the guys and they can pick up some of your stuff while they are at the safe house." Tank said, pulling out his cell phone.

"While I have all of you here." Ranger said, pulling up a chair and sitting at the end of the beds. "I want a report."

"The exterior alarms didn't go off." Ram started, shaking his head. "I was cleaning up in the kitchen at the end of my shift when I saw movement outside."

"I had just checked the perimeter." Les said, shaking his head. "All the alarms were in place were operational. I had just made it inside and was gearing up when I heard Ram."

"I flipped the panic switch in the kitchen, but no alarms sounded." Ram shook his head, looking towards Ranger. "I knew that we needed to get Steph and the baby out of there. I shouted up the stairs to secure them when the back door burst open. I was shot before I even had a chance to turn around." His fists tightened and his eyes darkened with anger. "Fucking cop shot me in the back. I tried to keep them in the kitchen, but there were six of them…I fucked up. I shouldn't have turned my back to them." He roughly rubbed his hands over his face.

"I was in Steph's room when I heard the shot. She and the baby were crying and I tried to calm them down. The safe room is in the basement, but there was no way I could make it down there with them." Les' voice was soft. He pointed to Diesel. "Then this guy pops into her bedroom, grabs the two of them and tells me that Gabi and Bobby were still in the woods. Then they just disappeared."

"Yeah…" Diesel said, rubbing his chest proudly. "I am kind of a hero…huh?"

"Yeah, except we were still fucked." Les growled. I came down the stairs as they were pulling Ram outside. I pulled out my gun but was stunned as I walked into the kitchen. Fucking Q had been hiding against the wall. When I woke up I was tied to a chair and they were beating the shit out of me."

"Gabi and I had made it through the woods after Diesel popped out. She and I split up." Bobby sounded ashamed.

"I scaled a tree and climbed in through the third story bathroom window." I said. "Bobby wanted me to run, but I couldn't leave you guys. I made it down the stairs and saw Les. He was hurt, and I had to help him. I thought that I shot both Morelli and Q, but I guess that my aim wasn't that great."

"No, Gorgeous." Les said quietly. "You did. Joe in the shoulder and Q in the chest. He was wearing Kevlar. You stunned him, and he fell off the counter top to the floor. That's where he was when he tasered you."

"I should have checked on them. This isn't my first rodeo. I know the routine. I was so stupid." I said. Ram tightened his grip around me and kissed my cheek.

"Darling, you didn't do anything wrong. This whole situation was fucked up." He smiled and put his hand to my cheek. "If you had taken off running Les and I might not have made it."

"Wait." Tank said looking confused. "If you only shot Morelli and Q than what happened to the other four."

Bobby smiled, and puffed up his chest. "That would be me." He said triumphantly. "Took them all out by myself."

"Nice one, Doc." Les said, reaching out his closed hand to fist bump Bobby. "Guess all those hours at the range helped."

"So you gonna tell us what happened with Gabi?" Ram asked as I sat down on the edge of his bed.

Ranger and Tank filled them in. As they listened, Bobby, Les and Ram's eyes became black with anger. I stood, feeling really uncomfortable and walked towards the window. I could feel all their eyes on me.

"Cal looked her over. She isn't hurt." Ranger's voice seemed far away.

"Gabi." Les' voice was soft. I turned to see him patting his bed softly. "Come here."

I sniffled back a tear and walked over to him, plopping heavily down on the mattress not wanting to make eye contact.

"Gorgeous, he didn't…I mean…nothing happened, right?" Les' voice was unsteady and filled with concern.

"No. I…well, I…you see…" I looked to Tank, who smiled and nodded his head.

"He was dead when we got there." Tank tilted his head towards me. "Cricket sure did a number on him. I would say that he was dead within a minute. When I pulled him off of her, he was already cooling."

"What do you mean…pulled him off? I thought you said he was dead?" Ram quirked an eyebrow and looked from me to Tank. Tank opened his mouth to answer, but I beat him to it.

"He was on top of me when I cut his femoral and slit his throat." I whispered. "I couldn't push him off. He was too heavy, and the blood made it difficult for me to get a good grip. I don't know how long I waited…must have been no more than 20 minutes."

Les arm pulled me closer to him and snuggled me against his chest. "Gabi, I'm so sorry I wasn't there to help you." He whispered in my ear.

"When did you get shot exactly?" Ranger asked Les. "Bobby said that you were down when he got there, and Gabi didn't remember you getting shot at all."

"Gabi had untied my legs first...right before she got tased. I pulled myself off the chair, but my hands were still bound." Les swallowed and pulled me tight against his chest. "I threw myself on top of her. It's the only thing I could think of to do to keep them away. Q shot me in the chest when I told him he'd have to kill me before he could take her."

"Les..." I whispered. He shook his head and shushed me.

"It's all good." He smiled. "We are all okay. The bad guys are taken care of." He kissed the top of my head. "Now…about that food?"

*****AUTHOR's NOTE: I am sorry this chapter took so long to post. I have re-written it four times now. This one isn't exactly right either…but I know that you all needed an update. I am going to stick with it though. Look for the next chapter in 2 or 3 days. Thank you all again for reading this. **

**R.A.**


	25. Chapter 24

**Once again…everything is based on J.E.'s masterworks. I just like to play with them. **

Les POV

Tank had gone out and gotten a dozen large pizzas and arrived back just as the rest of the guys made it in. All eleven of us sat crammed into the hospital room, talking, laughing and eating. The pizza was gone, followed by the sodas and bottles of water that Hector, Cal and Hal had commandeered from the vending machines in the basement of the hospital. Gabi and I were curled up on the bed, her boots sitting on the floor next to my bed.

"Are you guys gonna get some clothes on?" Cal finally asked us, pointing to the gowns.

"What?" Ram asked standing and twirling around showing his bare ass to the entire room. Gabi giggled and buried her face in my chest. "You don't like it? I was going to keep this permanently."

Hector groaned and tossed a large black duffel bag at Ram, hitting him hard enough to bend him slightly at the waist. Bobby was in full view of Ram's ass.

"Fuck me!" Bobby yelled, covering his eyes. "My retinas are burning."

"I thought that I was burned into your eyes permanently." Gabi laughed at Bobby. His face turned white as his eyes nervously flicked to mine.

"What?" Cal questioned, his eyebrows furrowing together.

"These two..." Gabi pointed to Ram and Bobby. "Walked in on me naked this morning." She laughed as both of them tightened. She pointed back to Ram. "I'm still going to kick your ass for that."

"You saw her naked!" Cal screeched at Ram. "The tattoo?"

"Yep." Ram smirked, winking at Gabi. "It's a nice one." I reached for the bedside table and grabbed the closest thing I could reach, whipping it at Ram. Unfortunately, it was only a box of tissues and bounced off him with little to no damage. Gabi started giggling.

"How was it that both of you saw her naked?" Tank rumbled, his face contorted with anger.

"Uhhh..." Bobby began looking to Ram for support. Ram just laughed, wiping tears from his eyes. "She asked Ram to ask me to come up. She wanted to use the Xbox. I knocked but no one answered. I thought that maybe she was sleeping…or hurt. So I walked in…there she was standing naked in front of her bed." Bobby's eyes glassed over a bit.

"What the fuck, man!" I yelled, trying to reach out and punch him. He jumped out of the way before I could make contact. Gabi was full out laughing now, hiccupping and almost snorting. "You know this means that I have to kick your ass." Gabi smacked me on the shoulder and scowled before giggling again.

"It was an accident!" Bobby cried out. "I apologized. It was Ram that barged in even after Gabi told him not to!"

"Way to throw me under the bus." Ram laughed.

"You are all a bunch of fucking clowns." Ranger growled impatiently. "Diesel, would you be willing to pop me back to Haywood?"

"Sure thing, Batman." Diesel stood up, unzipping the bag and pulling out a pair of jeans and a t-shirt. Without flinching he pulled off the gown.

"Damn." I heard Gabi whisper. I growled and clapped my hand over her eyes. "What the hell, Les?" She whispered to me.

"Looking a little too hungry." I said flatly. She blushed and covered her eyes back up with my hand.

Diesel was dressed quickly, and was grabbed Ranger's forearm. I released my hand from Gabi's face.

"Take the men back to the safe house for the night. Two guards at the door. Schedule shifts. Call me when we have confirmation of their release." Ranger said, tilting his head towards me. "Keep her close cuz."

"No problem." I said as I watched them disappear.

GABI POV

A couple of hours later, I was still having hot flashes after seeing Diesel butt naked, but even more I was tired. A huge yawn escaped before I had the chance to suppress it. Les was drowsing next to me and Ram was passed out, snoring. I stood up and stretched.

"Cricket, do you want to come back to the safe house with us, or stay here? I bet we could get you a bed if you wanted to stay." Tank whispered to me. The guys were picking up the garbage and playing rock-paper-scissors to see who was going to stay. Tank and Cal lost.

"I will stay here. I can't go back there, not tonight. Plus, the guys need me here. It's my fault that they are here."

"Gabi, it's not your fault." Bobby said. I flitted my hand dismissing his words and walked towards the bags that Ranger had gotten and Cal had brought up from the SUV. I pulled out the cutesy star and moon pajamas. Bobby shook his head and smiled when he saw them. "Love the jammies."

"Ranger picked them out." I smirked, holding them out in front of me. "Wonder what this means?" I rolled my eyes.

"I don't know. Looks like something he would buy his daughter, Julie." Tank smiled.

"Great." I scoffed. Tank raised an eyebrow at me. "I was hoping that I could find one of you that could think of me as the bad-ass that I am. " I lifted my arms in a strong-man pose and growled. "See these guns!"

Tank and Bobby burst out laughing, waking up Ram who jumped a good two feet in the air before slipping off the bed and onto the floor. Les had sat up quickly, looking around the room. The sleep monster must have kicked his ass, because he looked like he was totally disorientated.

"What the fuck!" He moaned, rubbing his head as he got to his feet.

"Sorry, Ram." I said, biting my lip. I went over to him and checked his head, kissing the small bump he had gotten slamming onto the floor. "The guys are leaving, and I am going to get ready for bed."

"You gonna come snuggle up to me, Darling." Ram said in a bedroom voice, snaking an arm around me and playfully tickling my ribs.

"Uhhh...tempting….but no." I smiled. "Diesel doesn't seem to be coming back, so I am going to curl up in his bed. I am sure that with Cal and Tank at the door, we don't have to worry about Nurse Hatchet coming in and trying to stab you in your sleep."

"Alright, but if you get lonely….just let me know." Ram kissed my cheek and nodded to the guys before curling back into bed and falling asleep.

I said goodbye to the guys, each bending to give me hugs and kisses.

"Call me if you need me." Hector said, glancing towards Ram and Les. "You been through a lot tonight. I come right away." He pulled me into a huge hug, kissing me on both cheeks and my forehead. Winking, he strolled out of the room. Tank and Cal took their positions in front of the door and I slipped into the bathroom to change and get ready for bed. When I got out of the bathroom, the room was dark, except for the bluish glow from the television. Les was sitting up, his arm bent behind his head and the remote in his hand.

"Gorgeous, you wanna sit and watch television for a little bit?" He said, patting the blanket next to him. I nodded and curled up next to him. I sighed as his wrapped his arm around me and kissed the top of my head. "How are you doing…I mean…really doing?"

I shrugged my head. "I don't know. I guess that I am okay." I spoke softly not wanting to wake up Ram. "I do feel like I have a small weight off my shoulders. I guess that knowing that he is finally gone and that I have nothing to be afraid of will take away that part of my anxiety."

"Tank came in while you were dressing." He said softly. "He told me how he found you."

"Yeah." I took a deep breath and closed my eyes. "I couldn't get him off of me, Les. I tried. I just hadn't thought the whole thing through."

"Gabi, if you would have waited…shit, I don't even want to think about what could have happened to you." His grip tightened and he slipped a hand under my chin lifting my face so we were eye-to-eye. "What you did was incredibly brave and smart and…I am so proud of you." He kissed me gently on the lips.

We snuggled, watching television for a while longer. Soon, I felt Les' hand began to slide down my shoulder and land on the mattress. Glancing up at his face I saw that he was fast asleep. I smiled, pushing a stray hair back and slid my hand down his cheek. He looked so young when he slept, and so peaceful and innocent. He was only a few years older than me, but I knew from what stories I have heard about his military (and Rangeman) experience that he was aged well beyond his years. Kissing his cheek softly, I slipped out of his bed and crawled into Diesel's empty one. It didn't take long before I surrendered to sleep.

I woke snuggled warm and cozy, but I didn't want to open my eyes. I felt a warm body at my back and turned over cuddling deeper to it, wrapping a leg between his. Nuzzling my face into the bare chest, I wrapped my arm around his waist pulling him tightly against me. His hand gently caressed my back under my pajama top, running up and down my spine. I sighed and arched my back. Taking the invitation, he lowered his hand to my ass, pushing me gently up so our faces were a breath apart. I wrapped my arm up around his neck and pulled him to me, pressing my lips to his. When the kiss deepened I moaned, taking in a deep breath. I stopped, frozen. I smelled cookies and pine needles.

"Shit." I whispered, fluttering my eyes open. Diesel grinned at me, so I slammed my eyes shut again. "Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit."

"Good morning." His deep voice rumbled in my ear, his breath hot against my neck. "Sleep well?"

"Fuck." I whispered again, untangling myself from him. Before I could sit up, he pulled me back to him pressing me against him. "Let me go, Diesel." I snarled.

"You shouldn't start things you are willing to finish." He purred, wrapping his arms around me and kissing my neck.

"Let. Me. Go." I ground out, louder this time. I had a hand on either bicep and was pushing against him. I heard rustling of sheets.

"What the fuck!" Ram gasped, ripping off the blankets and pulling me out of Diesel's grasp. Les had woken just as Ram's arms wrapped around me to lift me off the bed.

"What the hell is going on?" Les growled, sitting up and staring at the three of us. I just scowled at Diesel, who was smirking.

"I don't know." Ram said. "But I woke up to Gabi telling Buzz Lightyear here to let go."

"Buzz Lightyear?" Diesel and I asked Ram together.

"Shut up!" Ram spat out. "It's early."

"What were you doing in bed with Gabi?" Les asked, standing over Diesel who was stretching his arms over his head.

"You mean MY bed." Diesel said, turning before whipping off the covers. Diesel was butt-ass naked. I buried my face in Ram's chest and tried to stifle a giggle.

"Jesus Christ." Les muttered. "Put some fucking clothes on." The door flung open and Tank strolled in followed by Hector and Cal.

"What's going on?" He demanded.

"Fucking Freak-boy curled in bed with Gabi naked and was getting fresh with her." Ram said pulling me towards his bed and sitting me down.

"She started it." Diesel said, pulling on a pair of jeans. "I was just minding my own business when she snaked herself around me and started making out."

"I DID NOT SNAKE!" I yelled, feeling my face get red. "I thought you were Les." Shit. I thought. That's embarrassing. I glanced over at Les who was smiling from ear to ear. "And anyways, I was sleeping there first, you came in uninvited."

Diesel barked out a laugh and Tank shook his head.

"I miss all the good shit." Cal said under his breath.

"AARG!" I groaned, jumping off the bed to grab the shopping bag before heading into the bathroom. "I am going to take a quick shower and then I am going for a walk."

A half hour later I came out the bathroom wearing jeans, a grey stretchy t-shirt, black CAT boots and a black hooded sweatshirt. I tossed the bag with my dirty cloths and pajamas onto the floor by Tank's feet. He was sitting in one of the lounge chairs, flipping through channels. Diesel, Ram and Les had gotten dressed and were currently chowing on hospital food.

"I'm going out." I said, sticking out a hand to Tank. "Could you lend me some money? I need to get something to eat and stuff. I can pay you back when we get to Trenton."

"Want me to come with you?" He asked, pulling out a couple of twenties and handing them to me.

"No." I said, stuffing the money in my pocket. "I just need some time without distractions."

"Take Cal at least." Tank said, nodding his head. "He will keep his distance if you need him to. And be back before noon. I know the minute these goons are released they are going to want to book it."

"Alright." I waved at the rest of the guys and headed out the door. I smiled at Cal and waved him over to me. "Bossman says you're coming with me, Handsome."

He nodded and followed a step behind me. We rode the elevator in silence and continued our non-conversation until we reached the edge of the parking lot.

"Where are we going?" He asked, finally breaking the gap between us and walking next to me.

"I need some air…and some food." I stopped walking and looked around. "I don't know where anything is here."

"I think there is a Denny's down a block or so this way." He pointed to the left. "And some sort of mom and pop place down the other way."

"Denny's?" I asked pointing in that direction. Cal shrugged and followed me down to the Denny's. We ate in relative silence, only stupid chit-chat about the weather or plans for when we got back to Trenton. We were walking back towards the hospital when I stopped in front of a gas station. "Do you have your ID on you?" I asked. He raised his eyebrow at me and nodded. "Good. Come with me."

There was a gas station across the street. I waited at the side of the road for traffic to clear before running across. When we reached the parking lot I pulled Cal's sleeve and motioned at the side of the building.

"Can you do me a favor?" I asked, toeing my boot in the gravel.

"Anything." He spoke softly, his eyebrow still raised.

"Get me a pack of smokes and a Mountain Dew?" I bit my lip waiting for him to say no. He stood staring at me for a moment before he spoke.

"You don't smoke." He said flatly. I rolled my eyes at him.

"Will you?" I asked again, this time flashing him a huge smile. He shook his head, agreed and stalked into the gas station. He returned a few minutes later carrying a bottle of Mountain Dew and a pack of Marlboro Lights. He handed them to me. "Thank you." I ripped open the bottle, chugging a third of it before packing the smokes. "You wouldn't happen to have fire on you, would you?"

He flipped out a solid black Zippo. I opened the pack, pulled out a smoke. He flicked the Zippo and I lit my smoke, inhaling deeply before letting out a sigh. I glanced at Cal who was just shaking his head.

"What?" I asked defensively. He grabbed the pack from my hands and pulled a smoke out for himself, lighting it and taking a drag before handing me back the pack.

"What am I going to do with you, Sexpot?" He shook his head again. I could feel my fish-face impression and quickly closed my mouth. "It's a bad habit. Definitely don't let Ranger see you. He quit years ago and the smell makes him itch for one."

"I didn't know you smoked, Cal?" I said, leaning up against the building and took another drag.

"I don't." He said, following my lead. "But you looked like you needed someone to join you."

I looked at him incredulously. "That is silly." Cal just shrugged.

"So, you gonna tell me what's up?" He took another drag and turned, so he was leaning on his shoulder.

"My head is all fucked up, Cal." I sighed, finishing the smoke and tossing it to the ground. "For fuck's sake…I'm smoking." I eyed the pack in his hand

"Didn't know you did." He said calmly, holding the pack out to me.

"I used to smoke pretty heavy until…well, until Q." I lit it. "I picked it up again after my recovery. I have one of those smokeless-electronic cigarettes that I use now. I just needed the real thing. It's been days since I had nicotine." I smiled at Hector who shook his head.

"How did I not know about that?" He said, probably more to himself than me. "I have never seen you with one."

"I'm pretty sneaky." I placed a finger on my nose and tapped it sarcastically. "Real sneaky."

He laughed before he put his hand on my shoulder. "You doing okay after last night?"

"Yeah. I think so." I kicked at a rock, trying to find it incredibly interesting.

"Gabi." He said, pulling my attention back up to him. "It's okay to be a little upset about it. The man was fucked up...they both were. When Tank found you...we thought that...shit, you were almost naked and covered in blood."

"You know…" I began looking into Cal's eyes. They were a soft hazel with green and gold flecks. "I am okay about what happened…for the most part. I don't feel scared anymore. I just still feel so…broken."

"Gabi, you went though some crazy shit and survived…and even better...you strived. Look at you. You are strong, funny and smart...not to mention beautiful. Give yourself some credit. I bet that once you realize how amazing you really are you might feel different."

"I guess." I stamped out that cigarette and looked up at the hospital across the street. My mind was going a million miles a minute. Diesel had gotten me all hot and bothered again, and I didn't know how to handle it. Maybe it's all the men that I am around all the time. I could always head back to Tennessee. I never had this problem there. I shook it off and turned to Cal. "I guess that we should be getting back, huh?"

"Yeah. I am sure that Les is in circles right now." Cal laughed, and wrapped an arm around my shoulder. "I am sure that we are going to be heading back to Trenton soon."

"Good. I can't wait to get home. To my own bed." I giggled. Then I remembered that my apartment was trashed. "Shit. I don't have a bed. It got trashed when my apartment was ransacked."

"You can some stay with me?" He wagged his eyebrows at me. "Then maybe I will be able to finally see that tattoo of yours." He winked at me and I smacked him on the chest.


	26. Chapter 25

****Normal stuff…not mine…but I wish I could borrow a couple of them. ;) ****

As we walked into the room, the chatter that we had heard in the hallway ceased.

"Feeling better?" Tank asked leaning back into his chair.

"Yeah. I think so." I smiled at him. "Thanks Cal." I patted his shoulder and walked over to Les, who was leaning against his bed.

"We got cleared to go." Les said, pulling on a piece of hair that had managed to fall out of my ponytail. "You feeling okay?"

"Yeah. I just needed some air. It's been a crazy couple of days." I smiled, shaking my head. "I want to head back to my apartment when we get back to Trenton."

"Everything there is trashed?" Les questioned. "Do you want to stay with me?"

I thought about it for a minute, looking into his eyes. They were bright green and matched the crooked smile on his face. Oh shit. I thought. I am falling for this guy pretty bad. I let out the breath I didn't know I was holding and nodded. "Only until I can get my apartment back together."

"You can stay with me as long as you want, Gorgeous." He winked at me.

"Let's get out of this place." Ram said, picking up the duffel bag with their stuff. "I want to get home. There's a desperate heartbroken woman waiting for my personal comfort somewhere in Trenton, and I have to fine her."

"You pig." I laughed, shaking my head. I picked up the bag with the stuff Ranger had gotten for me and swung it over my shoulder. "Come on, ladies. Let's go."

The SUV was parked next to its Rangeman twin in the parking garage of the hospital. We split into two groups; Tank, Diesel, Hector, Cal, Les and I in one and Junior, Ram, Hal, Zero, and Bobby in the other. Les and I crawled into the third row seat, and hunkered down for the trip back. With Tank at the wheel we were going to make it back in about 2 hours, so I snuggled into Les' chest and fell asleep.

STEPH POV

I sat on the edge of my seat bouncing Bruce gently on my knee waiting for Gabi and the guys to return. Ranger had come home last night and updated me on what happened, and I was desperate to see with my own eyes that everyone was okay.

"Babe." Ranger said a smile in his voice. "Why don't you give me Bruce and you can go and wait in the parking garage. They should be here any minute. I will bring Bruce up to Ella and meet you there."

"Thanks." I handed off Bruce, gently kissing the top of his silky head before darting out the door. The elevator ride down to the garage seemed like an eternity. When they finally opened I hopped out and bounced nervously from foot to foot, hands wringing with anxious energy.

"Come on. Come on. Come on." I whispered to myself. I jumped as the elevator dinged open and Ranger stepped out.

"Babe. Looking scary there." He smiled, pulling me into him and putting an arm around my shoulders. "Tank called, their ETA is 2 minutes."

"Are you sure that they were okay?" I asked for what was close to the hundredth time.

"Steph, everyone is fine. Les and Ram's injuries were all cleared by the doctors after Diesel played his witch-doctor voo-doo shit."

"He is pretty awesome." I grinned. "Maybe you should hire him full-time to work for Rangeman. I bet Bobby could use the hand."

"Playing with fire, Babe." He growled playfully, pulling me into a kiss. The garage door slid open and I jumped back away from him, watching the two huge black SUV's pull into their designated parking spots. I ran to them as they filed out and threw my arms around Gabi.

"Oh my God." I said, pulling back from my hug to inspect her. "Are you hurt? Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, Steph." She laughed, pulling me into another hug. "You and Bruce are okay?" I watched as she took in my face. "Your bruises are gone?"

"Yeah." I wiped a stray tear from my eyes. "Diesel brought us straight back here and stayed with us until he left for the hospital. He patched up my arms and face." My eyes widened. "Oh God...where's Les and Ram?"

I spun around looking for them, my heart pounding in my chest. I spotted them in the back of the SUV, pulling out gear and talking with Ranger. I flung my arms around Les, causing him to drop the bag he was hauling from the back of the SUV to the ground.

"We're okay, Beautiful." Les said, smoothing my hair. "Your boy over there made us all better and it looks like he helped you out too." He pointed over to Diesel who was lounging against the SUV looking very proud of himself. I hugged Ram, who smiled softly and kissed my cheeks.

"Looking good there, Sexy." He said before squeezing me softly and finished unloading the SUV. I looked over and saw Diesel leaning up against the other SUV, arms crossed against his chest and a smirk on his face.

"Hey Sugar." He growled, pulling me into a bone crushing hug. "Did you miss me?"

"Of course." I laughed. "Thanks for helping the guys."

He set me back down on my feet and unwound his long arms from around me. "Anything for you, Steph." He tapped me gently on the nose. "Now, do you want me to finish up with you?"

"In a little bit." I looked back over at Ranger, who was staring daggers at Diesel. "I think that I need to discuss it with Ranger. Not that he wouldn't want me healed…it's just you have to get hands on…and...Well, I have injuries in some pretty private areas."

"All the more reason for me to do it." He winked at me. I smacked him gently on the arm, shaking my head. Typical Diesel. Ranger walked over to us and wrapped an arm around me, pulling me tightly against him.

"What is you plan?" Ranger asked Diesel.

"Don't have one. I completed my initial contract last year, so I am only on-call part-time." Diesel ran his fingers through his hair. I looked at Ranger and knew that he was about to ask Diesel to stay with Rangeman. I smiled, entwining my fingers with his.

"There's always a place for you here." Ranger said with just a little twinge of regret. "You make a good addition to the team." He looked down at me, squeezing me gently. "And I know that I can trust you to protect my family."

"I might just take you up on that offer." Diesel said with a grin. Ranger nodded and looked down at me.

"We should let the guys settle. They are off-line for a couple of days." He unwound himself and took me by the hand, angling his way to the elevator. "There's a spare apartment on four if you want to stay." He shot over his shoulder at Diesel, who just laughed.

"Bye!" I called out as we stepped into the elevators.

GABI'S POV

"Fuck." Les said under his breath as we heard Ranger offering Diesel a job at Rangeman.

"It's not that bad." I smiled, pulling the last bag out of the back of the SUV and setting it on the ground. Les reached up and closed the back hatch and threw one duffel bag on his back, one on his front and two in either hand. "I can help you, you know."

"I know." He smiled over the duffel bag attached to his chest. "But then I wouldn't be able to show off." He winked and headed towards the elevator. "Coming up to Five, or are you going straight up to the apartment."

"I'll go up to five with you for a bit." I smiled, pushing his shoulder which caused him to tip over and slam into the side of the elevator. I laughed and put him upright. "Sorry. I didn't think that I could do that."

"Shit, I'm getting weak. I used to hump my gear like this all the time. Shoot, when you get to Basic Training they have you put your bags like this." He motioned with his head to the bags attached to his front and back. "It was hard to maneuver at first, but you get used to it. "

"You look like a giant hotdog." I smiled. He quirked his eyebrows at me and looked down at the giant duffel bags going from chin to knees and smiled.

"I guess I do." He shook his head as the elevator doors slid open. "I should have worn my "Ask me about my Weiner" shirt."

This made me laugh even harder, stumbling into the COMM room. A sea of black swarmed around me, picking me up and peppering me with hugs and kisses.

"Thanks guys." I said when I was finally put onto my feet." Zip was standing next to me, smiling ear to ear. "What are you smirking about?" I asked, pulling his face down to my level by the collar of his shirt.

"You know that all our safe houses are video and sound monitored, right?" He could barely contain his laughter. I shook my head, furrowing my brows. I had no idea what he was getting at. "Even the bedrooms…." He waved his hands in a 'are you getting it yet' motion. My mouth dropped open and I felt heat rise in my face.

"You all saw me naked didn't you?" I groaned, releasing his collar and covering my face with my hands. Peeking through my fingers I saw Binkie nod.

"What!" Cal said, jumping up from the chair he had been sitting in. "Where is it?" He was frantically jumping from monitor to monitor searching for the one linked up to the safe house.

"No use." Tank barked to Cal, who stopped mid-stride and stuck out his bottom lip like a child being punished. "It was deleted from the system's history."

"Thank God!" I murmured under my breath.

"Binkie…Mats…0500." Les growled behind me. His voice was low and scary, making me jump and turn around. He had gotten rid of the bags and was standing hands on hips, chest puffed, looking intimidating (and sexy) as hell.

"Make it 0800." I said to him, putting my hand on his chest. "I want to sleep in."

Les smiled his anger deflating, leaned down and kissed my forehead before looking at the group surrounding us. "Who saw it?" Slowly hands began to rise, and I began counting. Ten. Shit. I thought. I am never going to live this one down, and there is no way I can kick all their asses.

"Oh COME ON!" Cal yelled, more at himself than anyone else. "This sucks. I totally got the shaft on this one." I shook my head at him and winked. He sighed dramatically, his chest raising and falling heavily. I mouthed 'LATER' and he smiled.

"Let's head down to my apartment." Les put his hand on my lower back and was leading me back towards the elevators. I said goodbye to the group and watched as the elevator doors slid shut.

"Well, that is just damned embarrassing." I said, shaking my head. I turned around and saw Les smiling. "You think it's funny…do ya?" I poked him in the chest. "Remember, that means they also watched us sleep…creeped out yet?" He pulled me into a hug and picked me up off the floor my face millimeters away from his.

"That doesn't bother me." He whispered. "Just shows them that they can't fuck with you." Before I could say anything, his mouth descended on mine. The kiss was soft, but I could feel him holding back. I ran a hand through his hair, causing a low growl to rumble in his chest. The kiss deepened and our tongues gently rolled over one another. A rush of heat flew through my body, causing me to shiver with anticipation. Les broke the kiss and looked at me with concern in his eyes. "Sorry, Gorgeous." He whispered, before setting me back on my feet. The elevator door was open and Hal was standing in front of it, an embarrassed shocked look on his face.

"Sorry." He mumbled, holding the door for us as we exited. He was mumbling something as the doors shut, something along the lines of lucky fucking bastard. That made me smile.

I was tingling all over from Les' kiss and tripped over my own feet as we entered his apartment. I stood in his entryway, trying to calm my hormones. Les had walked into the living room, before turning around and looking at me. "Everything alright, Gabi." He asked, walking back towards me and grabbing my hand.

"Yeah." I said a little breathless, his touch sending another shiver through my body. I looked up into his eyes; they were soft and made my breath hitch in my chest. My gaze lowered to his mouth, his full-lips and bright white teeth were so inviting. I licked my lips unconsciously.

"Gabi." Les said his voice low and sultry.

I couldn't speak. Holy shit. I thought. What the hell is wrong with me? I practically moaned as he slowly lifted me into his arms and carried me bridal style to the living room sofa. He sat me down gently, kneeling in front of me and put his hands on either side of my face.

"Gabi, you okay?" He smiled, running his finger over my bottom lip. I sighed, reaching up and taking his hands from my face and holding them in front of me. His hands were large, practically twice the size of mine making me feel small and frail in comparison. I ran my fingers over the scar going from his thumb to his wrist, and on his knuckles. I flipped over his hands, running my fingers along the lines on his palms wondering what these hands have seen…have done.

When I looked up at his face, he face was soft showing the man that I befriended, not the hard-ass ex-military man he shows everyone else. Letting his hand drop to my lap, I reached up touching the scar over his left eyebrow, his chin and lastly the one on his bottom lip. He told me the story about that one and it made me smile remembering. He smiled too, tightening the scar. He had gotten it when he was six, playing cops and robbers with his cousin. His cousin tackled him hard, and he literally bit through his bottom lip. He told me that he never tells anyone how he got it, because it would ruin his image.

"What are you thinking?" He whispered, his lips still curled in a smile. "You look like you are about to burst out laughing."

"I was remembering how you got this one." I said, tapping the scar on his lip gently.

He laughed softly. "It's pretty funny, huh?"

"Yeah." I couldn't take it. I grabbed him, hand on either side of his face and pulled him into a kiss. His arms, wrapped around me pulling me tightly to him. I melted into him, a moan slipping from my lips. I could feel his heart racing in his chest, and mine was keeping pace. I pulled back, gasping for breath.

He gently put a hand to the side of my face and smiled. He leaned in and kissed me again, this time pulling back before it could deepen. I groaned in disappointment.

"Gabi," he sighed. "I think I need to cool off for a second. I need to get myself under control a little bit."

"No." I said, pulling him to me by his t-shirt. He stopped me, hands on my shoulders, just as our lips were to touch again. He looked into my eyes, questioning my actions. "Please, Les." I whispered, releasing the front of his shirt and grasping the bottom of mine before pulling it up over my head.

A soft growl escaped his lips before lunging at me, tucking me underneath him as we sprawled out on the sofa. We kissed with desperate passion, our bodies entwined, and hips grinding together. His hands gently caressed my breasts through my bra, teasing the nipples and sending pleasurable bolts through me. I reached for the edge of his t-shirt pulling it roughly over his head. I sighed at the sight of his sculpted chest, and muscled stomach. He groaned, pulling me into another kiss as I ran my fingernails gently down his chest.

We broke our kiss again, this time he smiled at me before grabbing me under my ass and hoisting me up. My legs wrapped securely around his waist, and my arms around his neck as he walked into the bedroom. He lay me down gently onto his bed, untying my shoes and removing my socks his eyes never leaving mine. I unzipped my jeans, tugging them down over my hips as he pulled at the legs. He stopped, and I watched as he ran his eyes along my entire body. He smiled at me as he slipped off his boots and socks before unzipping his cargoes and dropping them to the floor. Les stood at the end of the bed for a second, wearing nothing but his emerald green boxers before slowly crawling up next to me.

"You okay?" He asked, running his hand down the length of my body. I bit my lip and nodded. The last time I tried to do this…well, let's just say it didn't end well. I took a deep breath and let it out. Les put his hand on the side of my face. "Gorgeous, tell me if you feel uncomfortable, or if anything just doesn't feel right. Okay?"

"Les." I whispered.

"Yea, Gabi." He spoke softly, running kisses from my ear to my collar bone and back.

"I….I think…" I closed my eyes. Shit. I thought. I am such a retard. Just tell him. Just say. I love you. How hard can this be? Do it! "I love you." It came out a little above a whisper, and at first I wasn't sure he had heard it. Time seemed to stand still, and I wondered if I just fucked everything up. I heaved a sigh of relief when a smile spread across his face.

"Gabi, I love you, too." His words broke what little control I had over my hormones. I pulled him into another kiss. His hands caressed my breasts, my stomach and then my hips. I reached behind me undoing my bra and throwing it to the floor. He ran delicate fingertips up the inside of my thighs, making me arch my back in anticipation and moan. He lowered his head, kissing a trail down my neck, nibbling on my collarbone before reaching my breasts. He lavished them, kissing, sucking and nibbling until I was wriggling with pleasure. I felt, more than saw, him smile as his kisses went lower and lower. His tongue flicked seductively at my navel sending more shivers down my spine. I closed my eyes and lifted my hips as he slid the panties down my legs. I could feel myself quivering with anticipation, pleasure and a little fear.

Inside my head I was struggling to control the impulse to jump up and run. Calm down. I told myself. This is Les. He isn't going to hurt you, he loves you. Shit…oh my God…he really loves me. I gasped and jumped as his fingers fluttered against my core. He laughed and brought his face back to mine.

"You are so beautiful." He said, stroking me until my body was taught about to cum, before gently inserting one finger then two. I moaned, rolling my hips against his hand. My release was coming closer, and I could feel myself begin to feel anxious. I pulled back from the kiss, breathing deep trying to squelch the feeling of terror that was building inside of me. Please. I begged myself. Don't do this. Les slowed, but didn't stop his fingers. "Everything okay?" He asked.

I felt a tear slip down my cheek when I nodded. His hand stilled. "I'm okay. Please..." I begged, pushing my hips up against his hand and pulling him close. "Please don't stop." He nodded kissing me again. My orgasm rolled through me like hot waves. "Oh God, Les." I gasped, grasping his shoulder no doubt leaving nail marks. "Please…" I muttered, almost incoherently. "I need you inside me."

"Are you sure?" He asked, looking into my eyes.

"Yes." I smiled, and kissed me gently on the lips. My hands reached under the waist band, pushing them off his hips to his knees. He moaned as I grasped him gently, stroking him. He slid his boxers off, tossing them with the rest of our spent clothing. Balancing on his arms, he laid on top of me. I could feel him hot and hard against my thigh and wiggled my hips and wrapped my legs around his waist.

"You're sure?" He asked again.

"Les..." I said, pulling his face close to mine. He raised his eyebrows. "I have never been more sure of anything in my entire life. Please." I wiggled my hips again making him moan. He kissed me as he entered me, slowly waiting for my body to adjust. I gasped when he was buried inside of me.

"God, Gabi. You are amazing." He whispered, slowly thrusting, watching my face for any signs of discomfort. I felt the same burst of heat began to course through my body. I wrapped my legs tighter around him and lifted my hips. This changed the sensation, which burst through me like 1000 volts of electricity. My back arched and muscles went stiff as it pounded through me. When I felt like I was going to explode, Les stopped.

"You okay?" He asked, concern filling his eyes.

"Les!" I yelped, my body still humming at the brink of what I can only assume was the mother of all orgasms. "Don't stop!" I grabbed his ass, urging him to continue.

He did, this time thrusting harder his hands digging into my hips. I screamed his name as my body finally burst into a thousand pieces, white flashes blinding me. Wave after wave of this blinding pleasure racked my body as Les thrust into me. Another intense feeling began to roll within my body; it was almost frightening with its strength. I could feel Les' muscles tense and his breath start to come in ragged gasps as he came closer to his own release.

"Dios mio. Gabrielle, te amo. Tue res mi carazon, mi alma, mi aliento." Les whispered into my ear before his release came, causing an animalistic roar to rip through his chest. We laid there, tightly in each other arms for a while. Les' hand was gently stroking my face and hair as he whispered in Spanish to me. I didn't know what he was saying, but I loved it.

"Gabi." He finally said, pulling himself up on his elbow and looking me in the eyes. "Are you okay?"

"Yes. I feel amazing. Thank you." I blushed, unsure exactly what I was supposed to say. "You okay?"

He laughed, kissing me gently on the lips. "I am more than okay." He was drawing circles on my stomach. "I was nervous. It's been a long time since I got nervous with a girl."

"This was the first time that I wasn't…for the most part." I chuckled. Les looked at me and smiled. "I didn't think that I would ever…I mean it's been such a long time that I thought...Well, it was more than I imagined it could be."

Les was chuckling softly, kissing me on my nose and mouth lightly. "You flatter me, Gorgeous."

"Well, you deserve it." I rolled to my side and up onto my elbow so we were face to face.

"Up for a shower?" He asked, waggling his eyebrows. I thought for a moment before nodding. Les picked me up and carried me to the bathroom, setting me gently on my feet on the tile as he started the water. We showered, taking our time washing each other, kissing and holding one another. We dressed comfortably, Les in basketball shorts and me in boxers and a tank before snuggling into bed.

Les looked over at me, eyes dark and smoldering. I smiled. "What's that look for?"

"You are amazing, Gabrielle Plum." He said, kissing me on the lips.

"You aren't so bad yourself, Lester Santos." I elbowed his softly in the ribs. "Thank you."

"Gabi, if anyone should thank anyone...it's me." He lifted my chin to look at him. "You gave me your love. You trusted me, and let me love you. I have to be the luckiest man in the world."

I felt my eyes fill with tears. "You love me." I said softly, mostly reaffirming it to myself.

"God, yes." He placed a hand on either side of my face. "I've never felt this way about anyone in my life. It's like you make me feel like a whole person. That I can do anything." He kissed me.

"I love you, too." I said, a tear sliding down my cheek. "I finally feel like I can say that without feeling guilty about not giving you what you want or need. I'm sorry that I was so stupid."

"You weren't stupid." He shook his head. "You were healing."

He pulled me tightly against him, laying a kiss on my forehead. His hand gently running up and down my arm as he left soft kisses on my face and hair. Soon, I was asleep, wrapped in the arms of the man that I loved…and that loved me back. Dreams came...and they were good.

*****Okay….so…..what do you think? Be honest…is this the way that you thought it would happen?*****

**There is still at least one more chapter to this story...and I will be posting it as soon as I can. Hope you all had a great Thanksgiving. **

**Happy Reading!**

**R.A.**


	27. Chapter 26

***Thanks to everyone who read this story. It was my baby, and even through some struggles I think I have made it to the end. I appreciated (and listened) to my reviews. Thank you so much. I hope that you check out the other two fanfics I have so far. (One is incomplete…it's being a pain in the butt.) Please leave reviews...and again. HAPPY READING!**

**SIX MONTHS LATER….**

STEPH POV

I stood standing in front of the full-length mirror staring at myself in the mirror. The past few months have been challenging and absolutely amazing. This was the pinnacle of the struggles. I turned, checking out the back of the soft blue gown I was wearing. It was a floor length silk gown that hugged my hips and waist and flowed down to a full skirt. The neckline plunged into an asymmetrically wrapped waist with a pleated train reaching from the side hip. The back dipped low, revealing the entire length of my back.

"Thank God for Hector." I sighed, swinging my hips side to side and watching the skirt flow. He had been helping me regain the figure I had lost after I had Bruce and then some. I was lean and strong and felt great. I turned around and smiled. Gabi was sitting a bench, twisting her dark hair in her fingers day dreaming. She had been the happiest I think I have ever seen her, and I knew that tonight it was going to get even better. She and Les had been dating openly ever since she was rescued, and tonight he was planning on proposing.

"Gabi." I said, giggling as she jumped slightly from her dreaming. "What do you think?"

"You look beautiful, Steph." She said standing and walking to me and grabbing my hand. "You will be the most beautiful bride ever." She smiled and looked up at me.

"Thanks, Gabi." I leaned down and hugged her. The door to the bridal store swung open with a bell tone.

"Hey!" Lula yelled as she strutted towards us, waving a white bag that I knew was filled with Boston Crèmes. "Holy Shit, White Girl! You look hot!"

"Thanks, Lula." I shook my head and stepped down from the podium I had been standing on. "Are you two ready to try on your dresses?" They looked to one another and nodded. "Good." I knew that they were anxious to see the dresses that I had picked out. I had been showing them god-awful dress designs filled with taffeta, and bordello lace. I got the attendant's attention and nodded pointing to the girls.

The attendant came out carrying two large white dress bags, and handed one to each of the girls. I watched as their faces lit up when they saw the dresses that I had picked out for them. Lula pulled her dress out and began screaming and jumping up and down.

"Oooooh...White Girl you did good!" She let out another excited squeak and giggle before she ran for the changing room.

Gabi stood and stared at her dress, before looking at me and smiling. "It's beautiful."

"Go try it on." I said, gently pushing her towards the changing room. I slipped out of my dress as I waited for them to come out. I was sitting on the bench that Gabi had been sitting on earlier when Lula cleared her throat. I turned and smiled.

Lula walked in wearing the aquamarine sequined tulle mermaid dress. It fit perfectly over her voluptuous curves and sparkled just like her personality. I smiled, feeling a tear slide down my cheek.

"You look beautiful." I said, choking back tears as I walked up to her. She stood in front of the mirror and smiled, sniffling back tears as well.

"Steph…I…" She turned to me and wrapped her arms around me. "I feel so beautiful…thank you."

I nodded and turned to see Gabi walk in. Her dress was lavender and floor length. It wrapped similar to mine on the top, but flowed into a beautiful full skirt. She looked amazing in it.

"Oh, Gabi." I whispered. "You look beautiful." Gabi stood next to Lula and they both stared into the mirror for a few minutes.

"Shit." Lula said, dabbing her eyes. "I can't believe that you are getting married tomorrow…and to Batman."

"Neither can I." I whispered, smiling up at my two best friends. "Now, let's get these things off and head over to the rehearsal."

We changed and packed the dresses into the back of the Lexus LX that Ranger had gotten me as an engagement present. Making sure that my token Merry Man was still behind me, I pulled out of my parking spot. I picked up my cell phone as we headed towards the airport.

"Yo." Ranger said.

"Yo yourself." I giggled.

"What's up Babe?"

"We are heading to the airport right now. Just making sure that we have a ride when we get to New York."

"Cal is waiting for you at the terminal, Babe." He paused, taking to someone for a moment. "Lester is crawling up my ass, Babe. He is on edge over this proposal."

I laughed rolling my eyes. "Tell him to take a pill. How's Bruce?"

"He is being spoiled rotten. Abuela Rose has been telling him stories of when I was little. Thank God he is too young to remember them." He laughed and my heart sang. God what this man does to me.

"Give him my love." I smiled remembering the last holiday meal when he was passed around all night, happy as a clam.

"I miss you." His voice softened.

"I miss you too. I can't wait to see you. I love you."

"I love you too, Steph." He sighed. "Unfortunately, both of our parents are adhering to the don't-see-the-bride tradition and we will have to wait until tomorrow night to be alone." I groaned, which cause him to laugh.

"Later, Batman." I said before disconnecting.

I have found, over the past six months, that flying on a personal jet is way more convenient than taking commercial airlines. There is no waiting in those huge security lines, and no random strip searches. Plus, the Rangeman jet is fully equipped with a bar, which we were fully intending on using. I pulled up to the gate, tossing the keys to one of the contract Merry Men and helped the girls unload the dresses. The guys had already brought our stuff to the hotel yesterday, so our luggage was just this and our purses. We boarded the jet and had bottles of Champagne opened the moment we could.

GABI POV

The rehearsal dinner was beautiful. Honestly, how could it NOT be? Ranger, of course, spared no expense booking it at the Plaza's Terrace Room for the dinner and reception, and the Grand Ballroom for the wedding ceremony. The food was amazing, and everyone had a great time. We only had one small hitch when Grandma Mazur got a little too tipsy and started grabbing the waiter's butts, but Bobby took a bullet and entertained her until our little party broke.

Les and I were sitting next to one another, sipping on champagne and snuggling. I watched as Tank stood and made his way nervously to where Lula was sitting. They hadn't spoken since their breakup over a year ago, but I knew that the feelings were still there….for both of them.

"Look." I whispered to Les, nudging him softly. He smiled when he saw Lula's face light up as Tank sat down, taking her hand in his. I knew exactly what he was saying to her, as he had rehearsed it a hundred times over the past couple of days. He told her that he missed her, and asked her how she has been. Told her how beautiful she was tonight, and how he was sorry that he was such an ass. He explained that he would do anything in his power to have her back in his life, and that without her he would never truly be happy. It was going well. Lula had tears in her eyes and a smile on her face. Then he did it.

"Holy shit!" Les said, sitting up straighter, his mouth agape. Tank had slid off his chair and steadied himself on one knee. "He's proposing." I just smiled and watched as Lula's face went from surprised to pure joy. She nodded dramatically as he slipped the ring on her finger. More people had stopped to watch, as she had squealed a bit when the ring was put on. Then, she lunged at him kissing him and wrapping her arms around his neck. Tears glistened in Tank's eyes, but weren't shed.

"Good job, Tank." I whispered, wiping away a tear that had escaped my own eyes.

"You knew he was going to do this?" Les asked, turning my cheek so I was looking at him face to face. I nodded and shrugged my shoulders.

"He asked me if I could help him practice." I turned my attention back to Lula and Tank who were being bombarded by the whole of Rangeman with hugs, claps on the back and congratulations.

"Did you ever find out why they broke up?"Les asked, tipping back his champagne flute.

"Yeah." I laughed and shook my head. "It was over pizza."

"What?" Les slammed his flute down, almost shattering the bottom. "Pizza?"

"Yeah. It was a stupid argument about mushrooms. She wanted them, he didn't. It spiraled into something about how neither wants to compromise. They were too proud to try to work it out. It's sad really. They are soul mates."

Les cleared his throat, stood and held out his hand for me to take. "Would you like to go for a walk?"

I nodded, and took his hand as I stood. He me up the stairs and lead me out onto the terrace overlooking Fifth Ave. It was a beautiful night; the air was crisp but still warm. I leaned back against him, drinking in the view. Wrapping his arms around me, he kissed the top of my head and sighed.

"Gabi." He said softly, turning me around to face him. I looked into his eyes and smiled. He sighed again, not with frustration but anxiety. My heart stopped as he took my hands and went down to one knee.

"Les?" I asked numbly. It felt like I was floating above my body. This was too magical to be happening to me.

"Gabi. I love you with all of my heart. I wake with a smile, knowing that I will get to see your beautiful face. I feel whole when you are with me, and you make me want to be the best man that I can be…even more than I think I am capable of…but I want to try for you. Holding you at night brings dreams of you and me together forever. I want to ask you to help me make my most cherished dream come true. Would you wake up with me every morning for the rest of our lives? Will you let me hold you when you are sad, or sick or lonely? Will you let me be the one that you come to when you need anything…from this moment on? Gabrielle Plum, will you honor me by becoming my wife?"

A sound somewhere between a sob and a gasp escaped my mouth as I felt my knees buckle. I stared into his eyes, which were misting over, open to his soul. I opened my mouth, but nothing came out. Frantically I nodded my head; he slipped the ring on my finger and stared up into my eyes. A tear silently fell down his cheek. I smiled, reaching down and taking his face in my hands before kissing him. He wrapped his arms around me, and picked me up holding me tightly against his chest with my feet dangling off the ground.

"Yes?" He said, breaking the kiss with a smile. I nodded again, my voice eluding me. He kissed me again. "Gabi, I love you so much. Thank you."

"I love you too, Les." I whispered, before he mouth crashed down again onto mine. I was going to spend the rest of my life with the most amazing man I have ever met. I no longer felt broken…life was finally mine to enjoy.

**FINIS**


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